THE  RIVERSIDE  HISTORY 

OF   THE 

UNITED   STATES 


WILLIAM   E.    DODD,    EDITOR 


THE  RIVERSIDE  HISTORY 
OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

WILLIAM  E.  DODD,  EDITOR 


I.  BEGINNINGS    OF    THE  AMERICAN  PEO 
PLE  .  By  CARL  LOTUS  BECKER,  Professor  of  European 
History,  University  of  Kansas. 

II.  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY.  By  ALLEN  JOHN 
SON,  Professor  of  American  History,  Yale  University. 

III.  EXPANSION  AND  CONFLICT.  By  WILLIAM 
E.  DODD,  Professor  of  American  History,  University  of 
Chicago. 

IV.  THE  NEW  NATION.    By  FREDERIC  L.  PAXSON, 
Professor  of  History,  University  of  Wisconsin. 


HOUGHTON    MIFFLIN   COMPANY 
BOSTON          NEW   YORK          CHICAGO 


Copyright,  l!)l'_',  Moffett,  Chicago 


,THE  NEW  NATION 


BY 

FREDERIC  L.  PAXSON     ^1av' 


PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY 
UNIVERSITY   OF  WISCONSIN 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

BOSTON          NEW   YORK          CHICAGO 

(Cf)c  fiiticwifcc  press  Cambridge 


COPYRIGHT,   1915,    BY   FREDERIC    L.    PAXSON 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U   .    S   .    A 


PREFACE 

A  NEW  nation  has  appeared  within  the  United 
States  since  the  Civil  War,  but  it  has  been  only  ac 
cidentally  connected  with  that  catastrophe.  The  Con 
stitution  emerged  from  the  confusion  of  strife  and 
reconstruction  substantially  unchanged,  but  the  ^co- 
nomic  development  of  the  United  States  in  the  sixties 
and  seventies  gave  birth  to  a  society  that  was,  by 
1885,  already  national  in  its  activities  and  necessi- 
ties^  In  many  ways  the  history  of  the  United  States 
since  the  Civil  War  has  to  do  with  the  struggle  be 
tween  this  national  fact  and  the  old  legal  system  that 
was  based  upon  state  autonomy  and  federalism  ;  and 
the  future  depends  upon  the  discovery  of  a  means  to 
readjust  the  mechanics  of  government,  as  well  as 
its  content,  to  the  needs  of  life.  This  book  attempts 
to  narrate  the  facts  of  the  last  half-century  and  to 
show  them  in  their  relations  to  the  larger  truths  of 
national  development. 

FREDERIC  L.  PAXSON. 


CONTENTS 

I.  THE  CIVIL  WAR     .......      1 

II.  THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS        .      .    20 

III.  THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE  IN  THE 

SOUTH      .........    39 

IV.  THE  PANIC  OF  1873      ......    59 

V.  THE  HAYES  ADMINISTRATION     ....    75 

VI.  BUSINESS  AND  POLITICS       .....    92 

VII.  THE  NEW  ISSUES    .  '   ......  108 

VIII.  GROVER  CLEVELAND      ......  126 

IX.  THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER    ....  142 

X.  NATIONAL  BUSINESS      .      .     "".      .      .      .162 

XI.  THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE         .....  177 

XII.  THE  NEW  SOUTH    .......  192 

X3II.  POPULISM    .........  208 

-XIV.  FREE  SILVER     ........  225 

XV.  THE  "COUNTER~REFORMATION"      .      .      .  244 


SPANISH  WAR 


XVII.  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT         .      .      .      .      .  276 

XVIII.  BIG  BUSINESS    ........  293 

XIX.  THE  "MUCK-RAKERS"        .....  309 

X,  NEW  NATIONALISM        ......  324 

INDEX  ....      ......       i 


MAPS  AND  CHARTS 

THE  RAILWAYS  OF  THE   "OLD  NORTHWEST"  .       .     13 
THE  WESTERN  RAILWAY  LAND  GRANTS,  1850-1871     23 

THE  SOLID  SOUTH,  1880-1912 53 

THE  POLITICAL  SITUATION  AT  WASHINGTON,  1869- 

1917 76,  77 

POPULATION  AND  IMMIGRATION,  1850-1910  .       .      .  120 
THE  WESTERN  RAILROADS  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL 

FRONTIER,  1870-1890 146,  147 

THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  DOMAIN,  1789- 

1904 153 

THE  CONGRESSIONAL  ELECTION  OF  1890 

between  186  and  187 

THE  FLOOD  OF  SILVER,  1861-1911         .       .       .       .227 
ALASKA,  THE  PHILIPPINES,  AND  THE  SEAT  OF    THE 

SPANISH  WAR 259 

NORTH  AMERICA  IN  1915  .  between  340  and  341 


THE  NEW   NATION 


THE  NEW  NATION 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    CIVIL   WAR 

THE  military  successes  of  the  United  States  in 
its  Civil  War  maintained  the  Union,  but  entailed 
readjustments  in  politics,  finance,  and  business  that 
shifted  the  direction  of  public  affairs  for  many  years. 
In  the  eyes  of  contemporaries  these  changes  were 
obscured  by  the  vivid  scenes  of  the  battlefield,  whose 
intense  impressions  were  not  forgotten  for  a  gen 
eration.  It  seemed  as  though  the  war  were  every 
thing,  as  though  the  Republican  party  had  preserved 
the  nation,  as  though  the  nation  itself  had  arisen 
with  new  plumage  from  the  stress  and  struggle  of 
its  crisis.  The  realities  of  history,  however,  which 
are  ever  different  from  the  facts  seen  by  the  partici 
pant,  are  in  this  period  further  from  the  tradition  of 
the  survivor  than  in  any  other  stage  of  the  develop 
ment  of  the  United  States.  As  the  Civil  War  is 
viewed  from  the  years  that  followed  it,  the  actu 
alities  that  must  be  faced  are  the  facts  that  the 
dominant  party  saved  neither  the  nation  nor  itself 
except  by  changing  its  identity ;  that  economic  and 
industrial  progress  continued  through  the  war  with 
unabated  speed,  and  that  out  of  the  needs  of  a  new 
economic  life  arose  the  new  nation. 


t.  _THE  NEW  NATION 

The  Republican  pai-ty,  whose  older  spokesmen  had 
been  trained  as  Whigs  or  Democrats,  had  by  1861 
seasoned  its  younger  leaders  in  two  national  cam 
paigns.  It  had  lost  the  first  flush  of  the  new  enthu 
siasm  which  gave  it  birth  as  a  party  opposed  to  the 
extension  of  slavery.  The  sigm  of  the  times  had 
been  so  clear  between  1°~  ,  and  1860  that  many 
politicians  had  turned  their  coats  less  from  a  moral 
principle  than  from  a  desire  to  win.  When  Lincoln 
took  up  the  organization  of  his  Administration,  these 
clamored  for  their  rewards.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
political  ethics  of  the  sixties  that  discountenanced 
the  use  of  the  spoils  of  office,  and  Lincoln  himself, 
though  he  resented  the  drain  of  office-seeking  upon 
his  time,  appears  not  to  have  seen  that  the  spoils 
system  was  at  variance  with  the  fundamentals  of 
good  government. 

It  was  a  Republican  partisan  administration  that 
bore  the  first  brunt  of  the  Civil  War,  but  the  strug 
gle  was  still  young  when  Lincoln  realized  that  the 
Union  could  not  stand  on  the  legs  of  any  single 
party.  To  develop  a  general  Union  sentiment  be 
came  an  early  aim  of  his  policy  and  is  a  key  to  his 
period.  He  was  forced  to  consider  and  reconcile  the 
claims  of  all  shades  of  Republican  opinion,  from 
that  of  the  most  violent  abolitionist  to  that  of  the 
mere  unionist.  In  the  Democracy,  opinion  ranged 
from  that  of  the  strong  war  Democrat  to  that  of  the 
Copperhead  whose  real  sympathies  were  with  the 
Confederacy. 

To  conciliate  a  working  majority  of  the  voters  of 
the  Union  States,  a  majority  which  must  embrace 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  3 

many  Union  Democrats,  Lincoln  steadily  loosened 
the  partisan  bonds.  The  congressional  elections  of 
1862  showed  that  he  was  still  far  from  success.  His 
overtures  to  the  Democrats  of  the  border  States  fell 
into  line  with  his  general  scheme.  His  tolerance  of 
McClellan  and  his  support  of  Stanton,  both  of  whom 
by  sympathy  and  training-  were  Democrats,  reveal 
the  comprehensive  power  of  his  endurance.  As  the 
election  of  1864  approached  to  test  the  success  of 
his  generalship,  he  had  to  fight  not  only  for  a  ma 
jority  in  the  general  canvass  but  for  the  nomination 
by  his  own  party. 

There  were  many  men  in  1864  who  believed  that 
the  war  was  a  mistake  and  that  Lincoln  was  a 
failure.  The  peace  Democrats  denounced  him  as  a 
military  dictator ;  to  the  radical  Republicans  he  was 
spineless  and  irresolute.  Within  his  own  Cabinet 
there  was  dissension  that  would  have  unnerved  a  less 
steady  man.  Chase,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
wanted  to  be  President,  and  had  allowed  his  friends 
to  intrigue  in  his  behalf,  yet  had  not  withdrawn 
from  the  counsels  of  his  rival.  At  various  times  he 
had  threatened  to  resign,  but  Lincoln  had  shut  his 
eyes  to  this  infidelity  and  had  coaxed  him  back. 
Not  until  after  the  President  had  been  renominated 
did  he  accept  the  resignation  of  Chase,  and  even 
then  he  was  willing  to  make  the  latter  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Chase,  in  the  Cabinet  and  in  touch  with  dissatis-  x 
fied  Republicans  outside,  was  a  menace  to  impartial 
administration.  Less  distressing,  but  noisier  than  he, 
was  John  C.   Fremont,   the   first  nominee  of  the 


4  THE   NEW  NATION 

party,  who  had  sulked  in  the  midst  of  admiring 
friends  since  Lincoln  had  removed  him  from  im 
portant  military  service  in  1861.  About  him  the  ex 
treme  abolitionists  were  gathered,  and  in  his  favor 
there  was  held  a  convention  in  May,  1864.  But  this 
dissenting  movement  collapsed  upon  itself  before 
the  elections  in  November. 

The  Republicans  went  into  convention  at  Balti 
more,  on  June  7,  1864.  The  candidacy  of  Chase 
had  faded,  that  of  Fremont  was  already  unimpor 
tant,  and  the  renomination  of  Lincoln  was  assured. 
But  the  party  carefully  concealed  its  name  and,  cater 
ing  to  loyalists  of  whatever  brand,  it  called  itself 
"  Union,"  and  invited  to  its  support  all  men  to 
whom  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war  was  the 
first  great  duty.  It  was  a  Union  party  in  fact  as 
well  as  name.  Delegations  of  Democrats  came  to  it 
from  the  border  States,  and  from  one  of  these  the 
convention  picked  a  loyal  Democrat  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency.  With  Lincoln  and  Andrew  Johnson  on 
its  ticket,  with  a  platform  silent  upon  the  protective 
tariff,  and  with  an  organization  so  imperfect  that  no 
roll  of  delegates  could  be  made  until  the  convention 
had  been  called  to  order,  the  Administration  party 
of  1864  was  far  from  being  the  same  organization  that 
had,  in  1856,  voiced  its  protest  against  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill. 

The  excesses  of  the  Democrats  aided  Lincoln  al 
most  as  much  as  the  efforts  of  the  party  which  nom 
inated  him.  A  convention  at  Chicago,  in  August, 
presided  over  by  Governor  Seymour,  of  New  York, 
and  under  the  dominance  of  Clement  L.  Vallandig- 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  5 

ham,  did  not  need  to  denounce  the  war  as  a  failure 
in  order  to  disappoint  the  Union  Democrats.  Not 
even  the  nomination  of  McClellan,  nor  his  repudia 
tion  of  the  platform,  could  undo  the  result  of  such 
leadership.  It  was  far  from  certain  which  ticket 
would  receive  the  greater  vote  in  November,  but  it 
was  clear  that  union  against  disunion  was  the  issue, 
and  that  men  would  vote  according  to  their  hopes  and 
fears.  The  former  were  in  the  ascendant  when  the 
polls  were  opened,  for  Sherman  had  gained  a  decisive 
victory  in  his  occupation  of  Atlanta,  while  Farragut 
had  gained  another  at  Mobile  Bay.  On  the  strength 
of  these  successes  the  Union  ticket  carried  every 
State  but  Delaware,  Kentucky,  and  New  Jersey. 

Chase,  who  left  the  Treasury  during  the  presi 
dential  campaign,  had  by  that  time  finished  the 
work  which  carried  the  financial  burdens  of  the 
Civil  War  and  provided  party  texts  for  another 
generation.  He  had  come  to  his  task  without  special 
fitness,  but  had  speedily  mastered  the  essentials  of 
war  finance.  In  his  reports  he  outlined  the  policy 
which  Congress  followed,  more  or  less  closely.  Taxes 
ought  to  be  increased,  he  urged,  to  meet  all  the 
costs  of  civil  administration,  interest  on  the  debt,  and 
sinking  fund  for  the  same.  These  were  current 
burdens  which  the  country  ought  not  to  try  to 
escape.  But  the  extra  cost  of  the  war,  which  was 
to  be  regarded  as  a  permanent  investment  by  the 
Union  for  its  own  defense,  might  fairly  be  made  a 
charge  upon  posterity.  To  meet  these  he  urged  the 
creation  of  a  sufficient  bonded  debt. 

The  Thirty-seventh  Congress  (1861-63)  had  been 


6  THE   NEW  NATION 

more  ready  to  borrow  than  to  tax.  In  all  its  expe 
rience  until  1861  the  United  States  had  met  no 
crisis  in  which  large  revenues  had  been  required.  In 
the  thirty  preceding  years  its  total  annual  receipts 
had  ranged  from  120,000,000  to  181,000,000,  while 
in  the  fiscal  year  in  which  the  war  began  the  total 
had  reached  183,000,000,  of  which  $41,000,000 
were  loans  rather  than  revenue.  Since  the  panic  of 
1857  the  Treasury  had  faced  a  deficit  at  the  end  of 
each  year,  and  had  been  compelled  not  only  to  spend 
its  accumulated  surplus  on  current  needs,  but  to 
borrow  heavily.  The  tariff  duties,  collected  at  the 
custom-houses,  were,  as  they  always  had  been,  the 
mainstay  of  the  revenue.  But  these  had  not  met 
the  needs  of  the  three  lean  years  before  the  war. 

Had  there  been  no  war,  the  disordered  finances  of 
the  United  States  might,  in  1861,  have  called  for 
corrective  measures  and  new  taxes,  and  these  could 
not  have  become  effective  before  1862  or  1863.  As 
it  was,  loans  were  resorted  to  for  first-aid.  In  1862 
they  alone  were  more  than  six  times  as  great  as  the 
total  receipts  of  1861 ;  in  1865  they  were  nearly 
three  times  as  great  as  in  1862.  Taxes  were  author 
ized  more  reluctantly  than  loans,  they  became  pro 
fitable  more  slowly,  and  did  not,  until  the  last  year 
of  war,  reveal  the  fiscal  capacities  of  the  United 
States. 

The  favorite  national  tax  of  the  United  States  had 
always  been  the  tariff.  Supplemented  by  miscella 
neous  items  which  included  no  internal  revenue  after 
1849,  and  no  direct  tax  after  1839,  it  carried  most 
of  the  financial  burdens.  Whether  parties  preferred 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  7 

it  high  or  low,  or  levied  it  for  protection  or  for  rev 
enue,  they  had  continued  to  cherish  it  as  a  fiscal 
device,  and  had  acquired  no  experience  with  alter 
nate  sources  of  supply.  Like  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  which  in  time  of  war  had  to  break  in  its  vol 
unteer  levies  before  it  could  win  victories,  the  Treas 
ury  and  Congress  had  to  learn  how  to  tax  before 
they  could  bring  the  taxable  resources  of  the  United 
States  to  supplement  the  loans. 

The  tariff  was  revised  and  increased  several  times  v 
between  1861  and  1865,  and  yielded  its  greatest 
return,  $102,000,000,  in  1864.  The  result  was  due 
to  both  the  swelling  volume  of  imports  and  the 
higher  rates.  Like  all  panics,  that  of  1857  had  less 
ened  the  buying  capacity  of  the  American  people. 
In  hard  times  luxuries  were  sacrificed  and  treasury 
receipts  were  thereby  greatly  curtailed.  A  return  to 
normal  conditions  of  business  would  have  been  visi 
ble  by  1861  had  not  war  obscured  it.  Steadily 
through  the  war  a  prosperous  North  and  West  bought 
more  foreign  goods  regardless  of  the  price. 

The  rate  of  tariff  was  based  upon  the  probable 
revenue,  the  protective  principle,  and  the  tax  bur 
dens  already  imposed  upon  American  manufacturers. 
Not  until  1863  were  the  internal  or  direct  taxes 
noticeable,  but  in  1864  these  passed  the  tariff  as  a 
source  of  revenue,  with  a  total  of  $116,000,000.  In 
1866  this  total  was  swollen  to  $211,000,000.  Like 
the  tariff,  the  income,  excise,  and  direct  taxes  were 
often  revised  and  raised,  and  many  of  the  tariff  in 
creases  were  dependent  upon  them.  When  the 
American  manufacturer,  who  already  declared  that 


8  THE   NEW   NATION 

he  could  stay  in  business  only  because  the  tariff  pro 
tected  him  from  European  competition,  found  himself 
burdened  with  a  tax  on  his  income  and  with  others 
upon  his  commercial  transactions  and  his  output,  he 
complained  bitterly  of  the  disadvantage  at  which  he 
was  placed.  To  equalize  his  burdens,  the  import 
rates  were  repeatedly  raised  against  the  foreigner. 
By  the  end  of  the  war,  the  tariff  exceeded  anything 
known  in  American  experience,  and  was  fixed  less 
with  the  intention  of  raising  revenue  than  of  ena 
bling  the  American  producer  to  pay  his  internal  tax. 
Less  than  185,000,000  were  collected  from  the  cus 
toms  in  1865;  while  $211,000,000  came  from  inter 
nal  sources. 

By  taxing  and  borrowing  the  United  States  accu 
mulated  188,000,000  in  1861,  1589,000,000  in 
1862,  $888,000,000  in  1863,  $1,408,000,000  in 

1864,  and  $1,826,000,000  in  1865.  The  Treasury, 
unimportant  in  the  world's  affairs  before  1861,  sud 
denly  became  one  of  the  greatest  dealers  in  credit. 
Its  debt  of  $2,808,000,000,  outstanding  in  October, 

1865,  affected  the  interests  and  solidity  of  interna 
tional  finance,  and  indicated,  as  well,  resources  of 
which  even  boastful  Americans  had  been  unaware  in 
1861.  One  item  in  the  debt,  however,  was  a  menace 
to  the  security  of  the  whole,  which  was  but  little 
stronger  than  its  weakest  part. 

The  physical  currency  in  which  the  debt  was  to 
be  created  and  the  expenses  paid  was  as  difficult  to 
find  in  1861  as  the  wealth  which  it  measured.  After 
Jackson  destroyed  the  second  Bank  of  the  United 
States  there  had  been  no  national  currency  but  coin, 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  9 

and  too  little  of  that.  Gold  and  silver  had  been 
coined  at  the  mint,  and  the  former  had  given  the 
standard  to  the  dollar.  In  intrinsic  worth  the  gold 
dollar,  as  defined  in  1834  at  the  ratio  of  sixteen  to 
one,  was  slightly  inferior  to  its  silver  associate,  and 
by  the  law  of  human  nature,  which  induces  men  to 
hold  the  better  and  pass  the  cheaper  money,  the 
value  of  the  gold  coin  had  become  the  measure  of 
exchange. 

The  coined  money  did  not  circulate  generally.  It 
was  devoted  to  a  part  of  the  business  of  government, 
and  to  the  needs  of  the  banks  which  provided  the 
actual  circulating  medium.  Scattered  over  all  the 
States,  hundreds  of  state  and  private  banks  issued 
their  own  notes  to  serve  as  money.  At  best,  and  in 
theory,  these  were  exchangeable  for  gold  at  par ;  at 
worst,  they  were  a  total  loss ;  yet  as  they  were,  vari 
ant  and  depreciated  since  the  panic  of  1857,  they 
were  the  money  of  the  people  when  the  Civil  War 
began.  Before  the  end  of  1861  the  banks  gave  up 
the  pretense  of  redeeming  their  notes  in  coin.  The 
United  States  Treasury  suspended  the  payment  of 
specie  early  in  1862,  and  thereafter  for  seventeen 
years  the  paper  money  in  circulation  depended  for 
its  value  on  the  hope  that  it  would  some  day  be  re 
deemed. 

The  needs  of  the  Treasury,  in  the  crisis  of  suspen 
sion,  induced  Congress  to  authorize  the  emission  of 
$450,000,000  of  legal-tender  paper  money.  These 
notes,  soon  known  as  the  "  greenbacks,"  became  the 
measure  of  the  difference  between  standard  money 
and  coin.  Issued  at  par,  they  sank  in  value  and 


10  THE   NEW   NATION 

fluctuated  until  in  the  darkest  days  of  1864  a  dollar 
in  gold  could  be  exchanged  for  §2.85  in  greenbacks. 
Yet  they  were  called  dollars,  and  the  creditor  was 
forced  to  accept  them  in  payment  of  his  debts.  They 
were  themselves  a  forced  loan,  borrowed  by  compul 
sion  from  the  people,  and  constituting  $433,000,000 
in  the  total  debts  of  the  United  States  in  1865. 

The  greenback  element  in  the  national  debt 
threatened  the  integrity  of  the  whole.  Should  re 
demption  take  place  at  par,  and  at  once,  the  credit 
of  the  United  States  could  not  fail  to  be  strength 
ened.  But  should  the  greenbacks  be  allowed  to  re 
main  below  par,  should  more  of  them  be  issued,  or 
should  the  United  States  avail  itself  of  its  technical 
privilege  to  pay  off  part  of  the  bonded  debt  in  "  law 
ful  money  "  manufactured  by  the  printing-press,  the 
weakest  item  in  the  total  might  easily  depress  the 
whole. 

The  future  of  American  politics  after  1865  was 
largely  determined  by  the  methods  through  which 
the  revenue  had  been  increased  and  by  the  fate  of 
the  greenbacks,  but  more  important  for  the  immedi 
ate  future  than  either  of  these  was  the  great  fact 
that  in  five  years  the  United  States  had  been  able 
to  incur  its  net  debt  of  $2,808,000,000,  and  had 
raised  in  addition  more  than  $700,000,000  through 
taxation.  It  was  a  prosperous  Union  that  emerged 
from  the  Civil  War,  and  every  region  but  the  South 
was  strong  in  its  conscious  wealth. 

The  whole  of  the  United  States  had  shared  in  the 
unusual  growth  in  the  period  following  the  Mexican 
War,  in  which  the  new  railroads  were  tying  the  Mis- 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  11 

sissippi  Valley  to  the  seaboard.  The  census  of  1860 
reported  an  increase  of  36  per  cent  in  total  popula 
tion  in  ten  years,  somewhat  unevenly  divided,  since 
the  Confederate  area  had  increased  but  25  per  cent, 
as  compared  with  39  per  cent  in  the  North  and  West, 
yet  large  enough  everywhere  to  keep  up  the  tradi 
tions  of  a  growing  population.  The  growth  continued 
in  the  next  decade,  despite  the  Civil  Wrar.  It  is  not 
to  be  expected  that  it  should  have  touched  the  record 
of  the  fifties,  for  2,500,000  men  were  drawn  from 
production  for  at  least  three  years  —  the  three  years 
in  which  most  of  them  would  have  grown  to  man 
hood  and  married,  had  there  been  no  war.  The  South, 
desolated  by  war,  and  with  nearly  every  able-bodied 
white  man  in  the  ranks,  stood  still,  with  under  9  per 
cent  increase.  But  the  J  phole  country  grew  in  popu 
lation  from  31,443,321  to  38,558,371  (22  per  cent), 
while  the  North  and  West,  in  spite  of  war,  grew  27 
per  cent,  —  more  than  the  South  had  done  in  its 
most  brilliant  decade. 

How  far  the  North  and  West  would  have  gone 
had  they  not  been  hampered  by  the  depression  after 
1857  cannot  be  stated.  These  regions  had  suffered 
most  from  the  panic,  since  in  them  railroads  and 
banks,  factories  and  cities,  and  all  the  agents  of  a 
complex  industrial  organization  had  been  most  active. 
The  industrial  disturbance  had  disarranged  for  the 
time  the  elaborate  Northern  system.  The  simpler 
South,  with  its  staple  crops,  its  rural  population,  and 
its  few  railways,  had  suffered  less.  Southerners  be 
fore  the  war  had  seen  in  their  immunity  from  the 
effects  of  panic  a  proof  of  their  superiority  over 


12  THE   NEW   NATION 

other  social  orders ;  they  had  misread  the  times  and 
prophesied  the  disintegration  of  the  industrial  organ 
ization  of  the  North. 

The  South  seceded  before  the  rest  of  the  United 
States  emerged  from  the  panic  period.  In  the  next 
four  years  the  treasury  receipts  show  the  resources 
of  the  loyal  States.  Industry,  recovered  from  its  de- 
pression,  went  ahead  unnoticed  in  the  noise  of  war, 
yet  little  impeded  by  the  fact  of  war. 

Communication  by  rail  brought  the  most  significant 
of  the  single  changes  into  the  Northern  States.  Be 
fore  the  panic  of  1857  the  trunk-line  railways  had 
completed  their  net  of  tracks  between  the  Mississippi 
and  tidewater.  Nearly  ten  thousand  miles  had  been 
built  in  the  Old  Northwest  alone  in  the  ten  preced 
ing  years.  But  the  effect  of  this  on  business,  certain 
to  come  in  any  event,  was  not  seen  until  secession 
closed  the  Mississippi  to  the  agricultural  exports  of 
the  Northwest.  For  a  part  of  1861  and  1862  traffic 
piled  up  along  the  young  railroads  extending  from 
St.  Louis  and  Chicago  to  Buffalo,  Pittsburg,  New 
York,  and  Philadelphia.  But  before  1863  these  lines, 
notably  the  New  York  Central,  the  Erie,  and  the 
Pennsylvania,  had  adapted  themselves  to  the  trade 
which  the  South  had  thrust  upon  them ;  and  never 
since  secession  has  New  Orleans  regained  her  place 
as  the  great  outlet  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

The  fundamental  change  in  the  direction  of  its 
trade  added  to  the  prosperity  of  the  North.  In  the 
additions  to  the  transportation  system,  made  to  ac 
commodate  the  new  business,  new  railroads  were 
less  prominent  than  second  tracks,  bridges,  tunnels, 


JJailroads  in  operation 
Jan.  1,  1860 

Railroads  completed 
durinK  1860 


THE   RAILWAYS   OF   THE   "OLD   NORTHWEST" 

Showing  the  development  between  1848  and  1860,  upon  which  the  Civil 
War  prosperity  of  the  region  was  based 


14  THE   NEW   NATION 

and  terminal  facilities.  The  experimental  years  of 
railroading  had  passed  before  most  of  the  lines 
learned  the  importance  of  city  terminals.  The  growth 
of  the  cities  and  the  rising  price  of  land  made  the 
attainment  of  these  more  difficult  than  they  need 
have  been,  while  city  governments  and  their  officials 
learned  that  illicit  profits  could  be  made  out  of  the 
necessities  of  the  railroads.  The  great  lines,  active  •/ 
in  the  development  of  their  plants,  and  consolidating 
during  the  sixties  to  get  the  benefits  of  unified  man 
agement,  added  to  the  bustle  in  the  cities  in  the  North. 

The  United  States  was  an  agricultural  country 
until  the  beginning  of  manufacturing  and  the  revolu 
tion  in  communication  made  it  profitable  to  concen 
trate  people  and  capital  in  the  cities.  Between  1850 
and  1880  the  number  of  cities  with  a  population  of 
50,000  more  than  doubled.  The  actual  construction 
of  the  houses,  the  water  and  lighting  systems,  and 
the  sewers  for  these  communities  gave  employment 
to  labor.  As  cities  grew,  their  more  generous  dis 
tances  brought  in  the  street-car  companies,  whose 
occupation  of  the  public  streets  added  to  the  tempta 
tions  and  opportunities  of  the  officials  of  govern 
ment.  The  swelling  manufactures  increased  the  city 
groups  and  gave  them  work. 

The  country  life  itself  began  to  change.  The 
typical  farming  families,  developed  by  pioneer  con 
ditions,  had  remained  the  social  unit  for  several  gen 
erations,  but  these  felt  the  lure  of  the  cities  which 
drew  their  boys  and  girls  into  the  factories.  Domes 
tic  manufactures  could  not  compete  in  quality,  ap 
pearance,  or  price  with  the  output  of  the  new  fac- 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  15 

tories.  The  farmer  began  to  give  up  his  slaughtering 
and  butter-making,  as  he  had  already  abandoned  his 
spinning  and  weaving,  and  devoted  himself  more 
exclusively  to  raising  crops.  Here,  too,  the  mechani 
cal  improvements  touched  his  life.  Agricultural 
machinery  was  coming  into  general  use,  while  the 
new  railroads  carried  off  his  produce  to  the  great 
markets  which  the  rising  cities  created. 

The  number  of  employees  of  American  factories 
increased  more  than  half  between  1860  and  1870, 
while  the  capital  invested  and  the  goods  turned  out 
were  more  than  doubled.  The  United  States  was  for 
the  first  time  looking  to  a  day  when  all  the  ordinary 
necessities  of  life  could  be  made  within  its  limits. 
At  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  New  York,  Boston,  Phila 
delphia,  and  a  host  of  cities  in  the  interior,  men 
were  not  disturbed  by  the  war  in  their  attempt  to 
exploit  the  abundant  resources  of  the  continent. 
The  manufacture  of  food  began  to  shift  from  the 
household  to  the  city  factory,  to  the  advantage  of 
the  cities  lying  near  the  great  fresh  areas  of  farm 
lands.  The  flour  mills  of  the  Northwest,  the  meat 
packing  establishments  at  Chicago  and  elsewhere, 
the  distilleries  of  central  Illinois,  utilized  the  agri 
cultural  staples  and  transformed  them  for  export. 
The  presence  of  factories  forced  upon  the  city  gov 
ernments,  East  and  West,  already  embarrassed  by 
the  pains  of  rapid  growth,  the  problems  of  police 
power  and  good  government.  Charters  written  for 
semi-rural  villages  were  inadequate  when  the  vil 
lages  became  cities. 

Clothing,  no  less  than  food,  passed  into  the  factory, 


4-. 

16  THE   NEW   NATION 

thanks  to  Elias  Howe  and  his  sewing-machine  and 
the  shoe  machinery  of  McKay.  Before  the  war  the 
influences  of  this  change  were  visible  in  the  increas 
ing  demand  for  cotton.  Now  came  the  great  growth 
of  the  textile  regions  of  the  East,  around  Fall  River 
and  Philadelphia,  and  of  the  shoe  factories  in  the 
Lynn  district. 

The  use  and  manufacture  of  machines  gave  new 
stimulus  to  those  regions  where  coal  and  iron,  placed 
conveniently  with  reference  to  transportation,  had 
fixed  the  location  of  smelters  and  rolling-mills.  In 
the  middle  of  the  sixties  Henry  Bessemer 's  commer 
cial  process  for  the  manufacture  of  steel  marks  the 
beginning  of  a  revolution  in  the  construction  of  rail 
roads  and  bridges,  as  well  as  in  public  and  private 
architecture.  Pittsburg  became  the  heart  of  the  steel 
industry,  and  the  young  men  who  controlled  it  fixed 
their  hands  upon  the  commercial  future  of  the  United 
States.  The  newest  of  industries,  the  trade  in  petro 
leum  and  its  oils,  reached  fifteen  millions  in  Pittsburg 
alone  in  1864. 

The  trunk-line  railways  with  their  spurs  and 
branches  adjusted  themselves  early  in  the  war  to  the 
new  direction  of  business  currents.  They  then  began 
to  carry  the  new  inhabitants  into  the  cities,  the  new 
manufactures  to  their  markets,  and  to  press  upon  iron, 
coal,  and  timber  for  their  own  supplies.  Men  of 
business  laid  the  foundations  of  huge  fortunes  in 
supplying  the  new  and  growing  demands.  The  stock 
company,  with  negotiable  shares  and  bonds,  made  it 
possible  for  the  small  investor  to  share  in  the  larger 
commercial  profits  and  losses. 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  17 

The  growth  and  elaboration  of  companies  and 
commerce  were  projected  upon  a  legal  system  that 
was  most  accustomed  to  small  enterprises  and  local 
trade.  Not  only  had  the  corporations  to  establish  cus 
toms  and  precedents  among  themselves,  but  courts, 
legislatures,  and  city  councils  had  to  face  the  need  for 
an  amplification  of  American  law.  The  speed  with 
which  the  new  life  swept  upon  the  country,  the  in 
experience  of  both  business  men  and  jurists,  the  pub 
lic  ignorance  of  the  extent  to  which  the  revolution 
was  to  go,  and  the  cross-purposes  inevitable  when 
States  tried  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  corporations 
larger  than  themselves,  make  it  unnecessary  to  search 
further  for  the  key  to  the  confusing  half -century  that 
followed  the  Civil  War. 

The  rapid  changes  in  manufacturing,  transporta 
tion,  urban  life,  and  business  law  that  came  with  the 
prosperity  of  the  early  sixties  gave  to  these  years  an 
appearance  of  materialism  that  has  misled  many  ob 
servers.  None  of  the  developments  received  full  con 
temporary  notice,  for  war  filled  the  front  pages  of  the 
newspapers.  The  men  who  directed  them  were  not 
under  scrutiny,  and  could  hardly  fail  to  bring  into 
business  and  speculation  that  main  canon  of  war  time 
that  the  end  is  everything  and  that  it  justifies  the 
means.  But  though  war  was  not  the  sole  American 
occupation  between  1861  and  1865,  and  though  a 
new  industrial  revolution  was  begun,  material  things 
often  gave  way  in  the  American  mind  to  altruistic 
concepts  and  the  service  of  the  ideal. 

Congress  endowed  the  agricultural  colleges  in  the 
early  years  of  the  war,  and  the  state  universities, 


18  THE   NEW   NATION 

though  thinned  by  the  enlistment  of  their  boys,  es 
tablished  themselves.  The  creation  of  new  universi 
ties,  the  endowment  of  older  foundations,  and  the 
beginning  of  an  education  that  should  fit  not  only  for 
law,  medicine,  and  theology,  but  for  business,  agri 
culture,  engineering,  and  teaching,  all  bear  testimony 
to  the  real  interests  of  American  democracy.  The 
ideal  was  as  yet  far  removed  from  the  fact,  and  the 
intellectual  leaders  of  the  United  States  were  yet  to 
pass  through  a  period  of  black  pessimism,  but  the 
people  were  still  firm  in  their  faith  that  education  is 
the  mainstay  of  popular  government,  and  gave  their 
full  devotion  to  both. 

The  four  years  of  the  Civil  War  carried  the  United 
States  over  a  period  of  social  and  economic  transition 
and  left  it  well  started  on  the  new  course.  They  en 
larged  and  expanded  the  activities  of  government, 
hastening  that  day  when  there  should  exist  a  public 
conviction  that  government  is  a  matter  of  technical 
expertness  and  must  be  run  in  a  scientific  manner  for 
the  common  good.  They  raised  the  problems  of  taxa 
tion  and  currency  to  a  new  importance,  and  impressed 
their  significance  upon  the  men  who  directed  the  in 
dustries  of  the  country.  In  their  prosperity  they  made 
it  possible  to  save  the  Union ;  and  at  their  close  a 
Union  party,  uncertain  of  its  strength  and  its  per 
sonnel,  faced  the  problems  of  a  united  country  which 
included  an  industrial  North,  a  desolated  South,  and 
a  vanishing  frontier. 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  19 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

For  further  references  upon  the  Civil  War  period,  consult 
William  E.  Dodd,  Expansion  and  Conflict  (in  this  series),  and 
F.  L.  Paxson,  The  Civil  War  (1911).  The  best  and  most  ex 
haustive  narrative  is  J.  F.  Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  States 
from  the  Compromise  of  1850  to  the  Final  Restoration  of  Home 
Rule  at  the  South  in  1877  (7  vols.,  1892-1906),  and  this  may  be 
supplemented  to  advantage  by  E.  D.  Fite,  Social  and  Indus 
trial  Conditions  in  the  North  during  the  Civil  War  (1910).  There 
is  a  convenient  account  of  the  election  of  1864,  with  platforms 
and  tables  of  votes,  in  E.  Stanwood,  A  History  of  the  Presidency 
(1898)  and  there  are  many  valuable  documents  in  E.  McPher- 
son's  annual  Political  Manual.  The  biographies  of  W.  H.  Sew- 
ard,  by  F.  Bancroft,  and  Jay  Cooke,  by  E.  P.  Oberholtzer,  are 
among  the  best  of  the  period.  There  are  no  better  summaries 
of  finances  than  D.  R.  Dewey's  Financial  History  of  the  United 
States  (1903,  etc.)  ;  W.  C.  Mitchell's  History  of  the  Greenbacks 
(1903)  ;  and  J.  A.  Woodburn's  Thaddews  Stevens  (1913).  In 
the  Annual  Cyclopaedia  (published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1861- 
1902)  are  useful  and  accurate  accounts  of  current  affairs. 
E.  L.  Godkin  began  to  publish  the  Nation  in  New  York  in  the 
summer  of  1865,  and  H.  V.  Poore  issued  the  first  volume  of  his 
annual  Manual  of  the  Railroads  of  the  United  States,  in  1868. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    WEST   AND    THE    GREENBACKS 

THE  activity  of  the  North  and  the  East  between 
1861  and  1865  was  imitated  and  magnified  among 
the  youthful  communities  that  made  up  the  western 
border  and  ranged  in  age  from  a  few  weeks  to 
thirty  years.  These  had  been  mostly  agricultural 
in  1857.  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Kansas 
had  been  the  frontier  before  the  Civil  War.  In  place 
of  these,  now  grown  to  be  populous  and  more  or  less 
sedate,  a  new  group  appeared  farther  west,  within 
what  had  been  believed  to  be  the  "  American  Des 
ert."  By  1868  Congress  completed  the  subdivision 
of  the  last  lands  between  the  Missouri  River  and 
the  Pacific,  since  which  date  only  one  new  political 
division  has  appeared  in  the  United  States. 

The  last  frontier,  that  developed  after  1857,  was 
novel  as  well  as  new.  It  was  made  up  of  mining- 
camps.  Everywhere  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  pros 
pectors  staked  out  claims  and  introduced  their  free- 
and-easy  life.  Before  1857  the  group  of  Mormons 
around  the  Great  Salt  Lake  was  the  only  considerable 
settlement  between  eastern  Kansas  and  California. 
Now  came  in  quick  succession  the  rush  to  Pike's 
Peak  and  Colorado  Territory  (1861),  the  rush  from 
California  to  the  Carson  Valley  and  Nevada  Ter 
ritory  (1861),  and  the  creation  of  the  agricultural 


THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS    21 

territory  of  Dakota  (1861)  for  the  up-river  Mis 
souri  country,  where  in  a  few  more  years  were  re 
vealed  the  riches  of  the  Black  Hills.  In  1863  the 
mines  of  the  lower  Colorado  River  gave  excuse  for 
Arizona  Territory.  Those  of  the  northern  Continen 
tal  Divide  were  grouped  in  Idaho  in  the  same  year, 
and  divided  in  1864  when  Montana  was  created. 
Wyoming,  the  last  of  the  subdivisions,  was  the  prod 
uct  of  mines  and  railroads  in  1868.  Oklahoma  was 
not  named  for  twenty  years  more,  but  had  existed  in 
its  final  shape  since  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Ne 
braska  Bill  in  1854. 

The  legitimate  influence  of  these  mining-camps 
upon  the  United  States  was  great.  It  was  no  new 
thing  for  Congress  to  solve  its  national  problems  on 
the  initiative  of  the  West.  Since  the  passage  of  the 
Ordinance  of  1787  this  had  been  a  frequent  occur 
rence,  and  the  history  of  the  public  lands  had  always 
been  directed  by  Western  demands.  In  1862  the 
agricultural  West,  whose  capacity  to  cultivate  land 
had  been  magnified  by  the  new  reaper  of  McCor- 
mick,  had  obtained  its  Homestead  Act,  by  which  land 
titles  were  conveyed  to  the  farmer  who  cleared  the 
land  and  used  it.  Thomas  H.  Benton  had  fought  for 
this  through  a  long  lifetime.  He  died  too  soon  to  see 
the  full  apotheosis  of  the  squatter,  who  gradually 
developed,  in  point  of  law,  from  the  criminal  steal 
ing  the  public  land  to  the  public-spirited  pioneer  in 
whose  interest  a  wise  Congress  ought  to  shape  its 
laws.  Under  the  influence  of  this  new  Homestead 
Law,  aided  by  the  Preemption  Law,  which  remained 
in  force,  land  titles  were  established  in  the  Moun- 


22  THE  NEW  NATION 

tain  States  as  rapidly  as  the  Indians  could  be  re 
moved. 

The  frontier  mining  territories  were  loud  in  de 
manding  that  Congress  should  give  them  more  land, 
remove  the  Indians,  extend  police  protection,  and 
give  them  mails  and  railroads.  The  miner  disliked 
the  isolation  which  his  speculations  brought  upon 
him,  and  Congress  unfolded  new  powers  to  remove 
it  for  him.  In  1858  it  organized  the  great  overland 
mail  that  ran  coaches  to  California  in  less  than 
twenty-five  days.  The  pony  express  provided  faster 
service  in  1860—61.  And  after  private  money  had 
built  the  telegraph  line  to  the  Pacific,  both  Congress 
and  the  West  took  up  the  subject  of  a  continental 
railway. 

In  the  summer  of  1862  a  group  of  railroad  com 
panies  was  authorized  to  build  a  track  from  the 
Missouri  River  (which  had  already  been  reached  at 
St.  Joseph  by  a  railway  from  the  East)  to  Califor 
nia.  As  modified  by  law  in  1864  the  contract  pro 
vided  for  extensive  government  aid  in  the  specula 
tion  :  twenty  sections  of  land  for  every  mile  of  track, 
and  a  loan  of  United  States  bonds  at  the  rate  of  at 
least  $16,000  per  mile.  But  the  West  had  little  cap 
ital,  and  the  prosperous  East  had  better  investments 
at  home,  so  that  money  could  hardly  be  got  into  this 
scheme  on  any  terms.  The  Western  promoters  were 
driven  to  shifty  extremes  before  they  overcame  the 
Eastern  belief  that  no  continental  railroad  could 
pay.  Not  until  1866  was  the  construction  work  begun 
in  earnest. 
/  Between  1866  and  1869  the  building  of  the  Union 


il^jil 

3  P  g  *»  §  e 

•sli-gii 

§-3^M-3  ° 

TH    03  'S    fl  ^3    PH 
O 


Mini! 

•f-<     O  ^a    CB     d)    55 
^'43i/2    ^,0    O 


THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS    25 

Pacific  was  the  most  picturesque  enterprise  in  Amer 
ica.  Across  the  great  plains,  the  desert,  and  the 
mountains,  from  Council  Bluffs  to  Sacramento,  it  was 
pushed.  In  the  West,  Stanford  and  his  group  of 
California  visionaries  carried  the  burden.  The  east 
ern  end  brought  out  no  single  great  promoter.  Both 
ends  fought  the  problem  of  timber  and  stone  and 
railroad  iron,  but  most  of  all  of  labor.  Stanford 
finally  imported  the  Chinese  coolie  for  the  job.  Civil 
War  veterans  and  new  immigrants  did  most  of  the 
work  on  the  eastern  end.  And  along  the  eastern 
stretches  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  plains  watched  the 
work  with  jealous  eyes.  The  Pawnee,  the  Sioux,  the 
Arapaho,  and  the  Cheyenne  saw  in  the  new  road 
the  end  of  a  tribal  life  based  upon  wild  game. 

Severe  Indian  outbreaks  accompanied  the  con 
struction  of  the  railroad,  as  the  tribes  made  their 
last  stand  in  Wyoming,  Colorado,  and  the  Indian 
Territory.  Before  the  line  was  done,  the  tribes  of  the 
plains  were  under  control  in  two  great  concentration 
camps,  in  South  Dakota  and  Indian  Territory,  and 
the  worst  of  the  Indian  fighting  in  the  West  was  over. 

In  the  spring  of  1869  the  railroad  was  finished 
and  a  spectacular  celebration  was  held  near  Ogden, 
in  Utah  Territory.  The  finishing  stroke  was  every 
where  regarded  as  national,  since  not  only  had  Con 
gress  given  aid,  but  the  union  of  the  oceans  was  an 
object  of  national  ambition.  With  the  completion, 
the  problem  shifted  from  the  exciting  risks  of  con 
struction  and  finance  to  the  prosaic  duties  of  paying 
the  bills,  and  with  the  shift  came  a  natural  falling- 
off  in  enthusiasm. 


26  THE   NEW  NATION 

The  Union  Pacific  was  the  longest  railroad  of  the 
sixties,  and  aroused  the  greatest  interest.  In  an  eco 
nomic  way  it  is  merely  typical  of  the  speculative 
expansion  of  the  North  that  began  early  in  the  Civil 
War  and  continued  increasingly  thereafter.  The 
United  States  was  engaged  in  a  period  of  hopeful 
growth  such  as  has  followed  every  panic.  After  a  few 
years  of  depression,  stagnation,  and  enforced  econ 
omy,  business  had  revived  about  1861.  Confidence 
had  increased,  loans  had  been  made  more  freely,  and 
capital  had  taken  up  again  its  search  for  profitable 
investment.  In  the  newer  regions,  where  permanent 
improvements  were  least  numerous,  the  field  for  ex 
ploitation  had  been  great.  The  climax  of  exploitation 
was  reached  throughout  the  West. 

As  had  been  true  at  all  the  stages  of  the  west 
ward  movement,  the  West  was  heavily  in  debt,  and 
upon  a  forced  balance  would  generally  have  shown 
an  excess  of  liabilities  over  assets.  Borrowed  money 
paid  much  of  the  cost  of  emigration.  During  the  first 
year  the  pioneer  often  raised  no  crops  and  lived  upon 
his  savings  or  his  borrowings.  He  and  his  local  mer 
chant  and  his  bank  and  his  new  railroad  had  bor 
rowed  all  they  could,  while  the  creditor,  living  neces 
sarily  in  the  older  communities  where  saving  had 
created  a  surplus  for  investment,  lived  in  the  East, 
or  even  in  Europe.  The  necessary  conditions  of  set 
tlement  and  development  had  prepared  the  way  for 
a  new  sectional  alignment  of  business  interests,  those 
of  the  Far  West  and  the  Northwest  taking  their  tone 
from  the  interests  of  a  debtor  class,  while  those  of 
the  East  represented  those  of  the  creditor.  The  pos- 


THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS    27 

sible  cleavage  was  revealed  as  real  when  the  United 
States  Treasury  Department,  in  its  work  toward 
financial  reconstruction,  approached  the  subject  of 
the  greenbacks. 

The  legal-tender  greenbacks,  which  were  in  cir 
culation  to  the  extent  of  1433,000,000  in  1865, 
constituted  not  only  a  part  of  the  debt  of  the  war, 
but  the  foundation  of  the  currency  in  circulation. 
Throughout  most  of  the  war  they  were  supple 
mented  by  the  notes  of  state  banks,  local  token- 
money,  and  fractional  currency,  or  "  shinplasters," 
of  the  United  States.  Coin  ceased  to  circulate  in 
1862  and  was  used  only  by  those  whose  contracts 
obliged  them  to  pay  in  gold  or  silver.  In  1863 
Secretary  Chase  inaugurated  a  system  of  national 
banks,  to  circulate  a  uniform  currency,  secured  by 
United  States  bonds,  but  these  did  not  become  a 
factor  in  business  until  the  state  bank  notes  had 
been  taxed  out  of  existence  in  1865.  After  this  time 
national  banks  were  formed  in  large  numbers,  re 
placing  the  uncertain  notes  of  the  state  banks  with 
their  own  notes,  which  were  quite  as  good  as  green 
backs.  But  all  paper  money  was  below  par  in  1865, 
and  gold  remained  out  of  circulation,  at  a  premium, 
until  the  end  of  1878. 

The  depreciation  of  the  greenbacks  reflected  a 
popular  doubt  as  to  the  outcome  of  the  Civil  War. 
They  entailed  hardship  upon  all  who  received  them 
as  dollars,  since  their  purchasing  value  was  below 
the  standard  of  one  hundred  cents  in  gold.  When 
the  Government,  desperate  in  war  time,  forced  its 
creditors  to  accept  them  at  par,  it  did  an  injustice 


28  THE  NEW  NATION 

which  it  regarded  as  real,  though  necessary.  The 
speedy  restoration  of  the  greenbacks  to  par  received 
the  immediate  attention  of  the  Treasury  upon  the 
return  of  peace. 

Hugh  McCulloch,  of  Indiana,  who  became  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  in  1865,  was  a  banker  of  long 
experience  and  success.  He  proposed,  if  allowed,  to 
reduce  the  whole  war  debt,  including  the  green 
backs,  to  long-term  bonds  bearing  a  low  rate  of  in 
terest,  and  to  create  a  sinking  fund  which  should 
redeem  them  as  they  fell  due.  This  involved  the 
withdrawal  from  circulation  of  the  greenbacks,  and 
the  destruction  of  that  amount  of  the  money  used 
in  business.  Congress  authorized  it,  however,  and 
McCulloch  canceled  greenbacks  from  month  to  month 
until  he  had  reduced  the  total  to  1356,000,000  in 
February,  1868. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  legal  tenders  had  not  been 
long  under  way  before  protests  began  to  come  in 
upon  the  Treasury  and  Congress  from  the  West. 
Bad  as  the  depreciated  currency  was,  it  was  the  only 
currency  available  for  the  active  business  of  the 
country.  If  the  greenbacks  should  go  there  would  be 
nothing  to  take  their  place  until  coin  should  finally 
emerge  from  hiding.  The  reduction  of  the  volume 
of  money  in  a  time  of  increasing  business  would  en 
force  upon  each  dollar  an  enlarged  activity  and  a 
greater  market  value.  The  price  of  money  rising, 
the  price  of  all  commodities  measured  in  money 
would  necessarily  fall,  and  in  a  period  of  falling 
prices  the  West  thought  it  saw  financial  catastrophe. 
There  was  enough  real  truth  in  the  contention  that 


THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS  29 

resumption  meant  a  fall  in  prices  for  the  Treasury  to 
be  compelled  to  make  the  difficult  choice  between 
this  evil  and  the  other  evil  of  a  depreciated  cur 
rency  forced  upon  the  people. 

The  creditor  East  regarded  the  possible  increase 
in  the  purchasing  value  of  the  dollar  with  entire 
complacency.  Its  selfish  interests  harmonized  with 
sound  theories  of  finance.  But  in  the  debtor  West 
the  process  had  so  different  an  aspect  that  the  finan 
cial  obligations  of  the  United  States  were  obscured 
by  the  local  interest. 

The  great  "  boom  "  of  the  West  began  after  the 
depreciation  had  commenced.  Most  of  the  Western 
debts,  whether  on  the  farm  of  the  settler,  the  stock 
of  the  merchant,  or  the  bonds  of  the  industrial  cor 
poration,  had  been  created  in  legal-tender  dollars  of 
the  value  of  the  depreciated  greenbacks.  Any  appre 
ciation  which  might  come  to  the  greenbacks  must  in 
crease  the  content-value  of  the  debt.  If  "  dollars," 
borrowed  when  they  were  worth  sixty  cents  in  gold, 
were  to  be  repaid  in  "  dollars  "  worth  eighty  or  more 
cents  in  gold,  the  debtor  was  repaying  one  third 
more  than  he  had  received,  and  no  appeal  to  the  im 
portance  of  public  credit  could  make  him  forget  his 
loss.  He  resented  not  only  the  decrease  in  the  actual 
amount  of  money,  but  the  appreciated  value  of  the 
remainder. 

McCulloch,  trained  in  finance,  was  ready  to  sacri 
fice  the  debtor  for  the  sake  of  national  solvency,  — 
and,  indeed,  one  or  the  other  had  to  yield.  But  Con 
gress  felt  the  pressure,  which  was  strong  from  all 
the  West,  and  most  strong  from  the  Northwest,  be- 


SO  THE  NEW  NATION 

tween  Pittsburg  and  Chicago,  whose  industry  had 
been  reorganized  during  the  years  of  war.  In  Febru 
ary,  1868,  the  retirement  of  more  greenbacks  was 
forbidden  by  law,  the  amount  then  in  circulation 
being  1356,000,000.  The  inflation  which  war  had 
brought  about  was  legalized  in  time  of  peace,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  ultimately  ruled  1  that  the  issue  of 
legal  tenders,  in  either  war  or  peace,  is  at  the  free 
discretion  of  Congress. 

Like  every  other  West,  the  West  of  1868  was  in 
debt;  like  every  other  debtor  community,  it  was 
liable  to  yield  to  theories  of  inflation,  and  was  prone 
to  look  to  politics  for  redress  of  grievances.  The 
farmers  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  had  fol 
lowed  Shays  for  this  purpose  in  1786  ;  Ohio  and 
Kentucky  had  attacked  the  second  Bank  of  the 
United  States  when  it  forced  their  banks  to  pay 
their  debts ;  and  now  the  Northwest  listened  to  poli 
ticians  who  told  them  that  more  greenbacks  would 
cure  their  ills. 

The  advocates  of  the  Greenback  movement  urged 
that  the  legal  tenders  be  retained  as  the  foundation 
of  the  currency,  and  that  all  bonds  and  interest  pay 
able  in  "lawful  money"  be  paid  in  paper.  By  thus 
increasing  the  volume  of  greenbacks  in  circulation 
they  hoped  to  avoid  a  fall  in  prices  or  an  increased 
pressure  on  the  debtor.  Wherever  men  were  heavily 
in  debt,  they  accepted  this  doctrine.  George  H.  Pen- 
dleton,  of  Ohio,  became  its  most  prominent  spokes 
man,  though  it  received  the  support  of  men  as  far 
apart  as  Thaddeus  Stevens  and  B.  F.  Butler,  and  on  it 

1  In  the  cases  of  Knox  vs.  Lee  and  Juilliard  us.  Greenman. 


THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS  31 

as  an  issue  Pendleton  sought  to  obtain  for  himself  the 
Democratic  nomination  for  the  presidency  in  1868. 

The  aspirations  of  Pendleton,  when  his  friends 
brought  his  "Ohio  Idea"  to  the  national  conven 
tion,  in  Tammany  Hall,  New  York,  on  July  4,  were 
opposed  by  the  similar  desires  of  Chief  Justice 
Chase,  who  still  wanted  the  Presidency,  and  Horatio 
Seymour,  the  Democratic  war  Governor  of  New 
York.  In  its  leader,  commenting  on  the  convention, 
Harper's  Weekly  asserted  that  "  The  Democratic 
Convention  of  1864  declared  the  war  a  failure.  The 
loyal  people  scorned  the  words  and  fought  on  to  an 
unconditional  victory.  The  Democratic  Convention 
of  1868  declares  that  the  war  debt  shall  be  repu 
diated.  And  their  words  will  be  equally  spurned  by 
the  same  honorable  people."  Pendleton  failed  to 
secure  the  nomination,  which  went  to  Seymour,  on 
the  twenty-second  ballot,  with  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr., 
for  the  Vice-Presidency,  but  the  "  Ohio  idea"  was  em 
bodied  in  the  platform  of  the  party,  although  Sey 
mour  distinctly  disavowed  it. 

Pledged  to  what  the  East  commonly  regarded  as 
repudiation,  the  Democratic  party  was  severely 
handicapped  at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign.  Not 
only  could  their  opponents  reproach  Seymour  as  a 
Copperhead,  but  they  could  profess  to  be  frightened 
by  Wade  Hampton  and  the  "  hundred  other  rebel 
officers  who  sat  in  the  Convention."  Already  in 
cluding  "treason,"  and  disloyalty,  the  indictment  was 
amended  to  include  dishonor,  by  the  Eepublicans, 
who  scarcely  needed  the  strong  popularity  of  Grant 
to  carry  them  into  office. 


32  THE  NEW  NATION 

The  Republican  party  was  compelled  to  disguise 
itself  as  "  Union  "  in  1864,  and  it  paid  for  the  dis 
guise  during  the  next  four  years.  Upon  the  death 
of  Lincoln,  the  Tennessee  Democrat,  Andrew  John 
son,  took  the  oath  of  office.  The  bond  which  kept 
Democrats  and  Republicans  together  as  Unionists 
had  dissolved  with  the  surrender  of  Lee,  so  that 
Johnson  was  enabled  to  follow  his  natural  bent  as  a 
strict  constructionist.  His  policies  had  carried  him 
far  away  from  the  radical  Republicans  before  Con 
gress  convened  for  its  session  of  1865-66,  and  led 
to  a  positive  breach  with  that  body  in  1866. 

The  quarrel  between  Johnson  and  the  Republican 
leaders  was  occasioned  by  his  views  upon  the  rights 
of  the  Southern  States,  conquered  in  war  and  held 
within  the  military  grasp  of  the  United  States.  It 
was  his  belief,  as  it  had  been  Lincoln's,  that  these 
States  were  still  States  and  were  in  the  Union,  even 
though  in  a  temporarily  deranged  condition.  As 
President,  entrusted  with  force  to  be  used  in  execut 
ing  the  laws,  he  regarded  himself  as  sole  judge  of 
the  time  when  force  should  no  longer  be  needed. 
And  in  this  spirit  he  offered  pardon  to  many  leaders 
of  the  Confederacy  in  May,  1865.  He  followed  am 
nesty  with  provisional  governments,  and  proclaimed 
rules  according  to  which  the  conquered  States  should 
revise  their  constitutions  and  reestablish  orderly  and 
loyal  governments.  He  had  reorganized  the  last  of 
the  eleven  States  before  Congress  could  interfere 
with  him. 

The  difference  between  Johnson  and  his  Repub 
lican  associates  lay  in  the  character  of  the  restored 


THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS  33 

electorates  in  the  South.  The  whole  white  popula 
tion  had,  in  most  States,  been  implicated  in  seces 
sion.  There  was  no  Union  faction  in  the  South  that 
remained  loyal  throughout  the  war.  Pardoned  and 
restored  to  a  full  share  in  the  Government,  these 
Southern  leaders  would  come  back  into  Congress  as 
Democrats,  and  with  increased  strength.  The  Thir 
teenth  Amendment  abolished  slavery,  and  raised  the 
representation  of  the  negroes  in  the  South  from  the 
old  three-fifths  ratio  to  par.  Every  State  would  come 
back  with  more  Eepresentatives  than  it  had  had  be 
fore  the  war,  and  with  the  aid  of  Northern  Demo 
crats  it  was  not  unlikely  that  a  control  of  Congress 
might  be  obtained. 

To  Northern  Republicans  it  was  unreasonable 
that  the  conquered  South  should  be  rewarded  instead 
of  punished,  and  that  any  theory  of  reconstruction 
should  risk  bringing  into  power  the  party  that 
Union  men,  headed  by  Lincoln,  had  defeated  in 
1864.  Politicians,  interested  in  the  spoils  of  office, 
were  enraged  at  the  thought  of  losing  them.  Dis 
interested  Northerners,  who  had  sacrificed  much  to 
save  the  Union,  believed  it  unsafe  at  once  to  hand 
it  over  to  a  combination  of  peace  Democrats  and 
former  "  rebels."  Yet  this  was  Johnson's  plan,  and 
Congress,  with  radical  Republicans  in  control,  set 
about  to  prevent  it. 

Although  Johnson,  as  President,  controlled  the 
patronage,  Congress  possessed  the  power,  if  not  the 
moral  right,  to  limit  him  in  its  use.  No  appointment 
could  be  made  without  the  consent  of  the  Senate, 
which  was  Republican.  In  1867  Congress  enacted 


34  THE  NEW  NATION 

that  no  removal  should  be  made  without  the  same 
consent,  in  a  Tenure-of-Office  Bill  that  brought  the 
dispute  to  a  climax.  More  important  than  this  power 
of  concurrence  was  the  exclusive  right  of  each  house 
to  judge  of  "  the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifica 
tions  "  of  its  own  members.  So  long  as  the  Southern 
Senators  and  Kepresentatives  were  out  of  Congress 
no  power  could  get  them  in  without  the  consent  of 
either  house.  Violent  advisers  of  the  President  argued 
that  a  Congress  excluding  the  members  of  eleven 
States  by  prearrangement  was  a  "  rump,"  and  with 
out  authority,  but  they  failed  to  influence  either  the 
conduct  of  the  majority  or  the  acts  of  Johnson. 

In  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  which  sat  in  1865 
and  1866,  it  was  the  problem  of  the  leaders,  Charles 
Sumner  in  the  Senate  and  Thaddeus  Stevens  in  the 
House,  to  hold  the  party  together  and  to  block  the 
designs  of  the  President.  In  the  House,  the  heavy 
Republican  majority  made  this  easy.  In  the  Senate 
the  majority  was  slighter,  and  could  be  kept  at  two 
thirds  only  by  unseating  a  Democratic  Senator  from 
New  Jersey,  after  which  event  both  houses  were  able 
to  defy  Johnson  and  to  pass  measures  over  his  veto. 
The  vetoes  began  when  Johnson  refused  his  consent 
to  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  and  the  Civil  Rights  Bills. 
These  and  all  other  important  acts  of  reconstruction 
were  forced  upon  the  President  by  the  two-thirds 
vote. 

The  split,  so  far  as  founded  upon  honest  diver 
gence  in  legal  theory,  was  embarrassing.  It  was  made 
disgraceful  by  the  violence  of  the  radical  Republicans 
and  the  intemperate  retorts  of  Johnson.  In  1866 


THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS  35 

Congress  sent  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the 
States  for  ratification.  In  1867  it  passed  its  bills  for 
actual  reconstruction  under  the  control  of  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  and  defied  Johnson  to  inter 
fere  by  refusing  to  allow  him  to  remove  officials 
from  office. 

Johnson  carried  himself  through  the  partisan 
struggle  with  ability  and  success.  His  language  was 
often  extreme,  but  he  enforced  the  acts  which  Con 
gress  passed  as  vigorously  as  if  they  had  been  his 
own.  So  far  as  any  theory  of  the  Constitution  met 
the  facts  of  reconstruction,  his  has  the  advantage, 
but  in  a  situation  not  foreseen  by  the  Constitution 
force  outranked  logic,  and  the  radical  Republicans 
with  two-thirds  in  each  house  possessed  the  force. 
There  was  no  lapse  in  the  President's  diligence  and 
no  flaw  in  his  official  character  which  his  enemies 
could  use.  They  began  to  talk  of  impeachment  in 
1866,  but  could  find  no  basis  for  it. 

The  Tenure-of-Office  Act  furnished  the  pretext 
for  impeachment.  Advised  by  his  Attorney-General 
that  it  was  unconstitutional,  Johnson  dismissed  the 
Secretary  of  War,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  for  whose 
protection  the  law  had  been  passed.  In  removing 
Stanton  he  broke  with  Grant,  commanding  the  army, 
over  a  question  of  veracity,  and  gave  to  Congress  its 
chance.  In  February,  1868,  the  House  of  Represent 
atives  voted  to  impeach  him. 

The  trial  of  Andrew  Johnson  before  the  Senate 
dragged  through  April  and  May.  The  articles  of 
impeachment  were  long  and  detailed  in  their  descrip 
tion  of  the  unquestioned  bad  manners  of  the  Presi- 


36  THE  NEW  NATION 

dent,  but  the  only  specific  violation  of  law  cited  was 
in  the  case  of  Stanton,  and  here  it  could  be  urged 
both  that  the  law  was  unconstitutional  and  that  it 
was  so  loosely  drawn  that  it  did  not  really  cover  this 
case.  In  brief,  it  was  the  policy  of  Johnson  that  was 
on  trial,  and  it  was  finally  impossible  to  persuade 
two-thirds  of  the  Senators  that  this  constituted  a 
high  crime  or  a  misdemeanor.  The  President  was 
acquitted  in  the  middle  of  May,  while  the  Repub 
lican  party  turned  to  the  more  hopeful  work  of  elect 
ing  his  successor. 

In  the  fight  over  Johnson  party  lines  had  been 
strengthened  and  defined  so  that  no  Unionist,  not  in 
sympathy  with  congressional  reconstruction,  could 
hope  for  the  nomination.  No  other  issue  equaled  this 
in  strength.  The  greenback  issue  was  condemned  in 
a  plank  that  denounced  "  all  forms  of  repudiation  as 
a  national  crime,"  but  ran  second  to  the  basis  of  re 
construction.  No  other  candidate  than  Ulysses  S. 
Grant  was  considered  at  the  Chicago  Convention. 

Few  men  have  emerged  from  deserved  obscurity 
to  deserved  prominence  as  rapidly  as  General  Grant. 
In  1861  he  was  a  retired  army  officer,  and  a  failure. 
In  1863,  as  the  victor  at  Fort  Donelson  and  at  Vicks- 
burg,  he  loomed  up  in  national  proportions.  In  the 
hammering  of  1864  and  1865  it  was  his  persist 
ence  and  moral  courage  that  won  the  day.  In  1868, 
as  commander  of  the  army,  and  fortunate  in  his 
quarrel  with  Johnson,  he  was  the  coveted  candi 
date  of  both  parties,  for  he  had  no  politics.  Held  by 
his  associations  to  the  Republican  leaders,  he  was 
nominated  at  Chicago  on  the  first  ballot,  with 


THE  WEST  AND  THE  GREENBACKS  37 

Schuyler   Colfax,  of    Indiana,   as    his  Vice-Presi 
dent. 

The  nomination  of  Grant  occurred  as  the  impeach 
ment  trial  was  drawing  to  a  close.  Before  Congress 
adjourned  it  readmitted  several  of  the  Southern  States 
that  had  been  restored  under  the  control  of  Republi 
can  majorities.  Tennessee  was  already  back ;  the  new 
States  were  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas.  Only 
three  States  remained  under  provisional  control  when 
Grant  was  elected  in  November  and  seated  in  the 
following  March.  As  he  took  the  oath  of  office  there 
were  few,  North,  South,  or  West,  who  did  not  rejoice 
in  his  election  ;  he  had  defeated  the  Greenback 
pretension,  which  endeared  him  to  the  East;  the 
West  remembered  that  he  had  been  born  and  bred 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley;  and  to  the  South  he  pre 
sented  the  clean  hands  of  the  regular  army  officer, 
and  the  welcome  promise  of  his  letter  of  acceptance, 
"Let  us  have  peace." 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

For  general  accounts  of  the  Far  West  in  this  period  consult 
K.  Coman,  Economic  Beginnings  of  the  Far  West  (2  vols.,  1912), 
and  F.  L.  Paxson,  The  Last  American  Frontier  (1910).  These 
should  be  supplemented  by  E.  L.  Bogart,  Economic  History  of 
the  United  States  (1907),  K.  Coman,  Industrial  History  of  the 
United  States  (2d  ed.,  1910),  W.  A.  Scott,  The  Repudiation  of 
State  Debts  (1893),  and  W.  C.  Mitchell,  History  of  the  Green 
backs.  The  more  valuable  memoirs  include  H.  McCulloch, 
Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a  Century  (1888),  and  J.  G.  Blaine, 
Twenty  Years  of  Congress  (2  vols.,  1884).  A  brilliant  analysis 
of  the  financial  interests  of  the  debtor  sections  is  M.  S.  Wild- 
man,  Money  Inflation  in  the  United  States  (1905).  Rhodes  con- 


38  THE  NEW  NATION 

tinues  to  furnish  a  comprehensive  narrative,  and  is  paralleled 
by  the  shorter  W.  A.  Dunning,  Reconstruction,  Political  and 
Economic,  1865-1877  (in  The  American  Nation,  vol.  22,  1907). 
A  detailed  account  of  impeachment  politics  is  in  D.  M.  DeWitt, 
Impeachment  and  Trial  of  Andrew  Johnson  (1903),  and  in  J.  A, 
Woodburn,  The  Life  o/Thaddeus  Stevens  (1913).  J.  P.  Davis, 
The  Union  Pacific  Railway  (1894),  is  the  standard  account  of 
the  early  movement  for  a  continental  railroad.  S.  L.  Clemens 
(Mark  Twain)  presents  a  vivid  picture  of  frontier  life  in  Rough 
ing  It  (1872),  while  A.  B.  Paine,  Mark  Twain  (3  vols.,  1912), 
contains  much  material  of  general  historical  interest  for  this 
period. 


CHAPTEE  III 

THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE  IN  THE  SOUTH 

THE  eight  Southern  States  whose  votes  were  cast 
in  1868  were  far  different  from  the  States  of  the 
same  names  in  1860,  and  were,  like  the  three  still 
outside  the  Union,  largely  under  the  control  of  rad 
ical  Eepublicans.  Restoration,  after  a  fashion,  they 
had  received,  but  it  had  been  accompanied  by  a  rev 
olution  in  society,  in  politics,  and  in  economic  life. 
"  Reconstruction  "  is  an  inappropriate  name  for  what 
took  place. 

Many  efforts  have  been  made  to  show  the  price 
paid  by  the  South  for  its  attempt  at  independence, 
but  these  have  always  failed  to  be  exact.  No  scheme 
of  accounting  can  uncover  all  the  costs.  It  is  a  suffi 
cient  suggestion  as  to  the  total  that  a  million  men, 
at  the  prime  of  life,  were  diverted  from  ordinary  pro 
duction  for  about  three  years.  Not  only  did  the  South 
lose  the  products  of  their  labor,  but  it  lost  many  of 
them,  while  its  houses,  barns,  and  other  permanent 
improvements  wore  out,  were  burned,  or  went  to 
pieces  from  lack  of  care.  Its  slave  property  was  de 
stroyed.  Poverty  was  universal  within  the  region  of 
the  Confederacy  when  Johnson  issued  his  amnesty 
proclamation  and  the  troops  came  home. 

The  most  immediate  problems  before  the  Southern 
planter  in  the  spring  of  1865  were  his  dilapidated 


40  THE  NEW  NATION 

buildings,  his  spring  crops,  and  his  labor  supply. 
Without  money  or  credit,  he  needed  all  the  stiffness 
of  a  proud  caste  to  hold  off  bankruptcy.  The  daugh 
ter  of  a  prominent  Mississippi  planter  told  later  how 
her  father,  at  seventy  years,  did  the  family  washing 
to  keep  his  daughters  from  the  tub.  A  society  whose 
men  and  women  took  this  view  of  housework  (for  the 
daughters  let  their  father  have  his  way)  had  much 
to  learn  before  it  could  reestablish  itself.  Yet  this 
same  stubbornness  carried  the  South  through  the 
twenty  trying  years  after  the  war. 

The  system  of  slave  labor  was  gone,  but  the  ne 
groes  were  still  the  chief  reliance  for  labor.  It  appears 
from  the  scanty  records  that  are  available  that  the 
planters  expected  to  reopen  the  plantations  using  the 
freedmen  as  hired  laborers.  In  1865  and  1866  they 
tried  this,  only  to  find  that  the  negro  had  got  beyond 
control  and  would  not  work.  Supervision  had  become 
hateful  to  him.  A  vagrant  life  appealed  to  his  desire 
for  change.  At  best,  he  was  unintelligent  and  indo 
lent.  In  a  few  years  it  became  clear  that  the  old  type 
of  plantation  had  vanished,  and  that  the  substitute 
was  far  from  satisfactory. 

Failing  at  hiring  the  negro  for  wages,  the  planter 
tried  to  rent  to  him  a  part  of  the  estate.  But  since 
the  tenant  was  penniless  the  landlord  had  to  find 
much  or  all  of  the  tools  and  stock,  and  too  often  had 
to  see  the  crops  deserted  while  the  negro  went  riding 
around  the  county  on  his  mule,  full  of  his  new  inde 
pendence.  The  census  records  show  the  decline  of 
the  plantation  as  the  labor  system  changed.  In  1860 
the  average  American  farm  contained  199  acres, 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE    41 

while  those  of  the  eleven  seceding  States  ranged  in 
average  from  245  in  Arkansas,  to  430  in  Georgia, 
and  591  in  Texas.  All  were  far  above  the  national 
average,  for  the  economics  of  the  plantation  system 
impelled  the  owner  ever  to  increase  his  holdings.  In 
1870,  and  again  in  1880,  the  reports  show  a  rapid 
decline.  The  average  for  the  whole  country  went 
down  from  199  to  134  acres  in  the  twenty  years,  as 
intensive  agriculture  advanced,  but  the  South  de 
clined  more  rapidly  than  the  whole,  and  in  1880,  in 
all  but  two  States,  the  average  farm  was  less  than 
half  its  size  before  the  Civil  War. 

The  vagrant,  shiftless  f reedman  was  a  social  prob 
lem  as  well  as  economic.  To  fix  his  new  status  was 
the  effort  of  the  legislatures  that  convened  in  1865, 
under  the  control  of  those  who  had  qualified  as  loyal 
in  Johnson's  scheme.  In  several  States  laws  were 
passed  relating  to  contracts,  apprenticeship,  and  va 
grancy,  under  which  the  negro  was  to  be  held  to 
regular  work  and  the  employer  was  given  the  right 
to  punish  him.  The  laws  represented  the  opinion  of 
the  white  citizens  that  special  provisions  were  needed 
to  control  and  regulate  the  negro  population  now 
that  the  personal  bond  of  the  owner  for  the  good  be 
havior  of  his  slaves  was  canceled.  To-  the  North, 
still  excited  and  nervous  in  1865,  the  laws  appeared 
to  embody  an  overt  attempt  to  restore  the  essentials 
of  slavery.  They  served  to  embitter  Congress  toward 
Johnson's  plans,  and  to  convince  Republicans  that 
the  professed  loyalty  of  former  Confederates  was 
hypocritical,  —  that  these  must  not  be  permitted  to 
return  at  once  to  federal  office  or  to  Congress. 


42  THE  NEW  NATION 

It  was  not  until  the  summer  of  1867  that  Con 
gress  substituted  governments  of  its  own  design  for 
those  which  Johnson  had  erected  by  proclamation. 
These,  meanwhile,  had  proceeded  to  revise  their  con 
stitutions  and  to  adopt  the  Thirteenth  Amendment, 
which  was  proclaimed  as  part  of  the  Constitution  in 
December,  1865.  The  direct  hand  of  Congress  was 
shown  in  the  strengthening  of  the  Freedmen's  Bu 
reau  in  the  spring  of  1866,  and  the  passage  of  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment  in  the  following  summer. 

The  Freedmen's  Bureau  had  its  excuse  in  the 
poverty  and  ignorance  of  the  negroes  who  crowded 
about  the  invading  armies.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
war  it  was  authorized  to  administer  abandoned 
property,  and  to  aid  the  freedmen  in  farming  upon 
the  same.  It  did  wide  charitable  and  educational 
work  in  easing  the  abrupt  change  from  slavery  to 
freedom,  and  would  have  been  dissolved  a  year  after 
the  return  of  peace  had  not  Congress  maintained  it 
to  offset  the  tendencies  of  Johnson's  administration. 
Hereafter  the  agents  of  the  Bureau  were  thrown 
into  politics  until  1872. 

The  permanent  government  of  the  conquered 
South  by  the  army  was  repugnant  to  even  radical 
Northerners,  yet  the  white  inhabitants  were  Demo 
cratic  almost  to  the  last  man,  and  if  restored  to  civil 
rights  would  control  their  States.  The  only  means 
of  developing  a  Southern  Republican  party  that 
might  keep  the  South  "  loyal "  was  the  enfranchise 
ment  of  the  freedman,  for  which  purpose  the  Four 
teenth  Amendment  was  submitted.  The  agents  of 
the  Bureau  were  expected  not  only  to  feed  and 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE    43 

clothe  the  negroes,  but  to  impress  upon  them  the  fact 
that  they  owed  their  freedom  to  the  Republicans. 
Some  spread  the  belief  that  the  Democrats  desired 
to  restore  slavery.  Many  built  up  personal  machines. 
The  responsibility  upon  these  white  directors  of  the 
negro  vote  was  great,  and  was  too  often  betrayed. 
Generally  not  natives,  and  with  no  stake  in  the 
Southern  community,  they  lined  their  own  pockets 
and  earned  the  unkindly  name  of  "  carpet-baggers." 
The  Territories  had  always  known  something  of  this 
type  of  ruler,  but  the  States,  hitherto,  had  known 
bad  government  only  when  they  made  it  themselves. 

The  Reconstruction  Acts  of  1867  ordered  the 
President  to  divide  the  South  into  five  military  dis 
tricts,  whose  commanders  should  supersede  all  the 
state  officers  whom  Johnson  had  restored.  With 
troops  behind  them,  these  commanders  were,  first, 
to  enroll  on  the  voting  list  all  males  over  twenty-one. 
The  negroes,  before  the  adoption  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment,  were  thus  given  by  Congress  the  right 
to  vote  in  their  respective  States,  and  were  included 
in  the  lists.  Excluded  from  the  lists  were  the  lead 
ers  of  every  Southern  community,  those  whites  who 
had  held  important  office  in  the  Confederacy ;  and 
none  was  to  be  enrolled,  white  or  black,  until  he  had 
taken  an  ironclad  and  offensive  oath  of  allegiance. 

Based  upon  the  list  of  voters  thus  made  up,  state 
conventions  were  to  be  summoned  to  revise  the  con 
stitutions.  In  every  case  they  must  modify  the  laws 
to  admit  the  status  of  the  freedmen,  must  ratify  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment  with  its  guaranty  of  civil 
rights,  and  must  extend  the  right  of  suffrage  to  the 


44  THE  NEW  NATION 

blacks.  When  :ill  these  things  had  been  done,  with 
army  officers  constantly  in  supervision,  the  resulting 
constitutions  were  to  be  submitted  to  Congress  for 
iinal  approval  or  rejection. 

No  constitutional  theory  ever  met  all  the  problems 
of  reconstruction.  The  war  had  been  fought  on  the 
basis  that  no  State  can  get  out  of  the  Union.  If 
this  was  true,  then  all  the  States  were  still  States, 
and  it  was  a  reasonable  presidential  function  to  re 
store  order  and  withdraw  the  troops.  The  unreason 
able  result  of  this  theory  was  the  immediate  restora 
tion  of  an  enlarged  influence  to  those  very  men  who 
had  tried  to  break  the  Union,  at  a  moment  when  the 
greenback  movement  threatened  the  foundations  of 
public  faith.  Yet  Congress,  by  pretending  to  read 
mit  or  restore  States,  denied  that  they  were  still 
States,  and  by  implication  conceded  the  principle  for 
which  the  Confederacy  had  contended :  that  the 
members  of  the  Union  could  get  outside  it.  The 
power  of  Congress  to  seat  or  unseat  members,  how 
ever,  placed  it  beyond  all  control.  Every  effort  to 
get  the  courts  to  interfere  broke  down,  when  the 
suits  were  directed  against  the  President  (Missis 
sippi  vs.  Andrew  Johnson),  or  the  Secretary  of  War 
(Georgia  vs.  Stanton).  A  personal  suit  that  pro 
mised  some  relief  (Ex  parte  McCardle)  was  evaded 
by  a  sudden  amendment  of  the  law  relating  to 
appeals.  The  situation  was  unpremeditated,  and  the 
Constitution  made  no  provision  for  its  facts.  In  the 
end,  reconstruction  must  be  judged  by  its  results 
rather  than  by  its  legality.  If  it  brought  peace, 
restored  prosperity,  safeguarded  the  Union,  and 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE    45 

created  no  new  grievances  of  its  own,  it  was  good, 
whatever  the  Constitution. 

Johnson  enforced  the  Reconstruction  Acts  with 
care,  and  the  Southern  conventions,  meeting  in  the 
autumn  of  1867,  sat  into  the  following  winter.  In 
five  of  the  States  the  roll  of  electors  showed  a  ma 
jority  of  negroes,  and  in  none  were  conservatives 
able  to  control  the  election  of  delegates.  The  old 
leaders  were  still  disfranchised,  and  many  of  them 
could  not  believe  that  the  North  would  permit  the 
radicals  to  subject  them  to  the  control  of  illiterate 
negroes.  The  resulting  conventions  contained  many 
negroes  and  were  dominated  by  white  Republicans, 
carpet-baggers,  or  scalawags  as  the  case  might  be. 
An  active  part  in  directing  them  was  taken  by  the 
officers  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  while  the  freed- 
men  were  consolidated  by  the  secret  ritual  of  the 
Union  League.  Only  Tennessee  escaped  the  ordeal, 
she  having  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  so 
promptly  that  Congress  could  not  evade  admitting 
her  in  1866. 

An  analysis  of  the  conventions  of  1867  reveals  the 
extent  of  the  political  revolution  which  Congress  in 
tended  to  thrust  upon  the  South,  whose  industrial 
revolution  was  now  well  advanced.  Planters  had 
begun  already  to  break  up  their  estates  and  entrust 
small  holdings  to  cash  renters,  or  share  tenants, 
known  as  "croppers."  Their  financial  burdens  were 
heavy,  but  with  intelligent  government  and  reason 
able  commercial  credits  from  the  North,  the  prob 
lems  of  labor  and  capital  might  be  met.  But  the  men 
who  must  control  the  economic  future  of  the  South 


46  THE  NEW  NATION 

were  excluded  from  the  Government  as  traitors. 
Their  places  were  filled  by  Northern  adventurers  and 
by  negroes.  The  Mississippi  convention  included 
seventeen  negroes,  and  was  called  the  "  black  and 
tan."  Inexperience  and  incompetence  were  in  con 
trol,  leading  to  extravagance  and  dishonestv,  but  the 
conventions  were  generally  superior  to  the  legisla 
tures  which  followed  them. 

Framing  new  constitutions,  most  of  the  States  had 
met  the  demands  of  Congress  by  the  summer  of  1868, 
with  the  respectable  portion  of  the  South  looking  on 
in  desperate  silence.  The  war  had  left  no  grievances 
equal  to  those  now  being  suffered.  Seven  of  the  new 
constitutions  were  adopted  in  time  for  the  radicals  to 
give  to  their  States  votes  in  the  election  of  1868.  Al 
abama,  making  the  eighth,  was  allowed  to  vote  under 
a  constitution  which  Congress  had  forced  upon  her 
after  it  had  failed  of  ratification  by  the  people.  Only 
Georgia  and  Louisiana,  of  these  eight,  did  not  give 
their  votes  to  Grant.  Only  Virginia,  Mississippi,  and 
Texas  remained  without  the  pale  when  Grant  was  in 
augurated  in  1869. 

The  completion  of  reconstruction  in  its  formal 
sense  was  reached  during  Grant's  first  Congress. 
Mississippi  completed  her  process  in  February,  1870. 
She  had  in  1868  voted  down  the  reconstruction  con 
stitution,  taking  courage  in  the  leadership  of  a  conser 
vative  governor,  Humphreys.  When  he  was  removed, 
and  replaced  by  a  Northern  governor,  the  conserva 
tives  lost  heart  and  ratified  the  constitution  that  they 
had  rejected.  Their  delay  cost  the  State  one  more 
humiliation,  since  in  the  interval  the  Fifteenth 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE  47 

Amendment  had  been  submitted  by  Congress  and 
made  a  condition  of  readmission  for  the  recalcitrant 
States.  A  Republican  legislature,  the  first  fruit  of 
reconstruction,  accepted  this  and  sent  to  Washington 
as  the  new  Mississippi  Senators  the  Northern  mili 
tary  governor,  Ames,  and  a  negro  preacher  named 
Revels. 

Virginia  was  readmitted  in  January,  1870.  Her 
original  loyal  government  under  Pierpont,  which  Lin 
coln  had  respected,  had  been  supplanted  by  a  military 
regime,  having  lost  its  last  chance  for  recognition 
when  it  rejected  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  in  1867. 
Under  congressional  direction  a  negro-radical  conven 
tion  made  a  new  constitution  which  was  forced  upon 
the  people  in  January,  1870.  Texas,  too,  was  in  her 
final  stage  of  restoration  in  1870,  and  like  Virginia 
and  Mississippi  was  readmitted  upon  conditions  that 
had  become  more  onerous  since  the  passage  of  the 
Reconstruction  Acts  in  1867. 

Eleven  States,  all  the  old  Confederacy,  had  been 
restored  by  the  spring  of  1870  ;  but  one,  Georgia, 
was  ejected  after  restoration,  and  thus  became  the 
last  item  in  congressional  reconstruction.  In  1868 
Georgia  had  ratified  her  new  constitution  and  moved 
her  capital  from  its  ante-bellum  location  at  Milledge- 
ville  to  the  new  town  growing  upon  the  ashes  of 
Atlanta.  She  had  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amend 
ment,  but  her  first  legislature  had  so  poorly  read 
the  meaning  of  Congress  that  it  expelled  every  negro 
whom  the  radicals  had  elected  to  membership.  Con 
gress  had  thereupon  declined  to  seat  the  Georgia 
delegation  at  Washington,  and  had  renewed  the  pro- 


48  THE  NEW  NATION 

bationary  period  until  the  legislature,  humbled  and 
browbeaten,  had  undone  the  expulsion,  whereupon 
Georgia  received  her  final  recognition. 

The  arbitrary  acts  of  Congress,  passed  by  the  radi 
cals  over  the  unvarying  vetoes  of  Johnson,  find  little 
sanction  in  the  Constitution,  but  it  is  to  be  expected 
that  the  laws  should  suffer  in  a  time  of  war.  Congress 
held  off  the  day  of  restoration  until  it  saw  in  the  South 
what  its  majority  believed  to  be  loyal  governments.  Its 
majority  could  not  believe  that  any  party  but  its  own 
was  loyal,  and  was  thus  led  to  a  policy  much  more  de 
batable  than  that  of  actual  reconstruction.  Step  by 
step  it  moved.  The  abolition  of  slavery,  in  the  Thir 
teenth  Amendment  (effective  December  18,  1865), 
was  expected  by  all  and  accepted  without  a  fight. 
The  next  amendment,  inspired  by  a  fear  that  the 
freedmen  would  be  oppressed  and  by  a  hope  that 
they  might  be  converted  into  a  political  ally  of  the 
Republicans,  was  submitted  to  the  States  before  the 
Reconstruction  Acts  were  passed,  and  was  pro 
claimed  as  part  of  the  Constitution  July  28,  1868. 
Only  compulsion  upon  the  Southern  States  procured 
its  ratification.  It  left  negro  suffrage  optional  with 
the  States,  but  threatened  them  with  a  reduction  in 
representation  in  Congress  if  they  refrained  from 
granting  it.  In  the  Southern  States  Congress  had 
already  planted  a  negro  electorate  by  law.  The  Fif 
teenth  Amendment  forbade  the  denial  of  the  right 
to  vote  on  grounds  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condi 
tion  of  servitude,  and  was  not  submitted  to  the  States 
until  after  the  inauguration  of  General  Grant.  A 
fear  that  the  South  would  disfranchise  the  freedmen, 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE  49 

pay  the  price,  and  revert  to  Democratic  control  seems 
to  have  been  the  prime  motive  in  its  adoption.  When 
it  was  proclaimed,  March  30,  1870,  the  radical  Re 
publicans  had  done  everything  in  their  power  to  save 
themselves,  and  had  inflicted  on  the  conquered  States, 
in  malice,  ignorance,  or  mistaken  philanthropy,  a 
condition  that  in  the  North,  with  its  trifling  number 
of  negroes,  was  tolerated  with  reluctance. 

The  South  was  in  name  completely  restored  in 
1870,  but  neither  restoration  nor  reconstruction  was 
in  fact  far  advanced.  In  the  latter  process  it  was  yet 
clearing  away  the  wreckage  of  the  institution  of 
slavery,  breaking  up  the  plantations,  devising  new 
systems  of  tenure  and  wage,  rebuilding  the  material 
equipment  that  the  war  had  left  desolate.  The  former 
process  was  only  commenced.  It  was  unthinkable 
that  an  American  community  should  permit  itself  to 
remain  subject  to  the  absolute  control  of  its  least 
respected  members,  yet  this  was  the  aim  of  white 
disf  ranchisement  and  negro  suffrage.  Law  or  no  law, 
the  restoration  of  the  South  was  not  complete  until 
its  government  was  back  in  the  control  of  its  re 
sponsible  white  population. 

Almost  without  exception,  until  1870,  the  South 
ern  State  Governments  were  what  Congress  had 
chosen  to  make  them.  Their  Senators  and  Representa 
tives  in  Congress  were  Republican,  commonly  of  the 
carpet-bag  variety.  Their  governors,  administrative 
officers,  and  legislatures  were  Republican,  too.  Rarely 
were  they  persons  of  property  or  standing  in  their 
communities,  and  often,  as  their  records  show,  they 
were  both  black  and  illiterate.  Had  all  possessed 


50  THE  NEW  NATION 

good  intentions  they  could  hardly  have  hoped  to  meet 
the  local  needs,  which  called  for  a  wise  revision  of 
law  in  order  that  the  community  might  recover  and 
live.  That  their  work  should  be  accompanied  by  er 
ror  and  waste  was  inevitable. 

From  the  contemporary  accounts  of  travelers  in 
the  South,  from  public  documents,  from  the  growing 
body  of  Southern  biography  and  reminiscence,  it  is 
easy  to  gather  a  mass  of  detail  upon  the  extravagance 
of  the  Reconstruction  Governments.  Printing  bills 
and  salary  lists  rose  without  a  corresponding  increase 
in  service  done.  When  expenditures  exceeded  the  rev 
enues,  loans  were  created  carelessly  and  recklessly. 
For  negroes,  only  a  few  months  out  of  the  cotton- 
field,  there  was  an  irresistible  attraction  in  the  plush 
carpets,  the  mahogany  desks,  and  the  imported  cus 
pidors  that  the  taxpayers  might  be  forced  to  provide 
for  the  comfort  of  their  servants.  A  free  and  continu 
ous  lunch,  with  ample  food  and  drink,  was  set  up  in 
one  of  the  capitols.  Gratuitous  waste  was  the  least  of 
the  burdens  inflicted  upon  the  South. 

It  is  unreasonable  to  lay  all  the  corruption  of  the 
Reconstruction  Governments  to  the  account  of  the 
congressional  policy.  The  period  of  the  Civil  War 
was  one  of  abuse  of  power  by  local  officials  every 
where.  It  took  a  Tweed  in  New  York  to  drive  a 
Northern  public  to  revolt,  and  a  Nast  to  focus  pub 
lic  attention  upon  the  crime.  In  other  States,  where 
rogues  were  less  brutal  in  their  methods,  or  prose 
cutors  less  acute,  the  evil  ran,  not  unnoticed  but 
unchecked.  In  the  South  the  same  phenomena  were 
resented  with  greater  vigor  than  in  the  North  be- 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE    51 

cause  the  crimes  were  more  openly  and  clumsily 
committed,  and  because  they  were  the  work  of  "  out 
siders." 

Deliberate  theft  of  public  money  was  so  common 
as  to  occasion  no  surprise.  In  no  State  were  books 
so  kept  that  the  modern  student  can  be  sure  he 
knows  where  all  the  money  went.  Graft  in  con 
tracts,  fraud  in  the  administration  of  schools  and 
negro-relief  schemes,  sale  of  charters  and  votes,  ille 
gal  issues  of  bonds,  improvident  loans  to  railroads, 
combined  to  enrich  the  office-holder  and  to  increase 
the  volume  of  public  debts.  A  long  series  of  repudi 
ations  of  these  debts  injured  Southern  credit  for 
many  years.  South  Carolina  occasioned  the  most 
vivid  description  of  the  orgy  in  a  book  entitled  The, 
Prostrate  State^  by  a  Maine  abolitionist  and  Kepub- 
lican,  named  Pike ;  but  several  other  States  would 
have  furnished  similar  materials  to  a  similar  his 
torian. 

So  far  as  law  was  concerned,  the  South  was  help 
less  in  those  regions  in  which  the  negroes  approached 
a  majority.  The  military  garrisons  which  Congress 
kept  on  duty  saw  to  it  that  the  freedmen  were  pro 
tected,  yet  were  unable  in  the  long  run  to  control 
the  white  population.  It  is  a  vexed  question  whether 
negro  violence  or  white  was  the  first  to  appear,  but  by 
1867  events  had  begun  to  point  the  way  to  the  elimi 
nation  of  negro  control  by  force  or  fraud.  By  law 
it  could  not  be  destroyed  unless  the  whites  struggled 
and  argued  for  negro  votes,  treating  the  negroes  as 
citizens  and  equals,  which  was  generally  as  impossi 
ble  as  an  acceptance  of  their  control. 


52  THE  NEW  NATION 

The  Ku-Klux  Klan  was  a  secret  movement,  with 
slight  organization,  that  appeared  earliest  in  Ten 
nessee,  but  spread  to  nearly  every  crossroads  in  the 
South.  It  began  in  the  hazing  of  negroes  and  carpet 
baggers  who  were  insolent  or  offensive  to  their 
neighbors.  Its  members  rode  by  night,  in  mask,  with 
improvised  pomp  and  ritual,  and  played  as  much 
upon  the  imagination  of  their  victims  as  upon  their 
bodies.  Frequently  it  revenged  private  grievances 
and  went  to  extremes  of  violence  or  murder.  From 
hazing  it  was  an  easy  step  to  intimidation  at  election 
time,  the  Ku-Klux  Klan  proving  to  be  an  efficient 
means  of  reducing  the  negro  vote.  It  was  so  effi 
cient,  indeed,  that  Grant  asked  and  Congress  voted, 
in  1871,  special  powers  for  the  policing  of  the  South. 
In  this  summer  a  committee  of  Congress  visited 
Southern  centers  and  accumulated  a  great  mass  of 
testimony  from  which  a  picture  of  both  the  Ku-Klux 
Klan  outrages  and  the  workings  of  reconstruction 
may  easily  be  drawn.  The  reign  of  terror  subsided 
by  1872,  but  it  had  done  much  to  dissuade  the  negro 
from  using  his  new  right,  and  had  started  the  move 
ment  for  home  rule  in  the  South. 

That  the  normal  politics  of  the  South  was  Demo 
cratic  is  shown  by  the  votes  of  the  border  States, 
where  a  population  of  f  reedmen  had  to  be  assimilated 
and  Congress  could  not  interfere.  Delaware,  Mary 
land,  and  Kentucky  voted  against  Grant  in  1868, 
although  all  the  restored  Confederate  States  but  two 
voted  for  him.  In  Georgia  the  Democrats  swallowed 
their  pride,  electioneered  among  the  negroes,  and 
elected  a  conservative  State  Government  in  1870. 


54  THE  NEW  NATION 

Tennessee  escaped  negro  domination  from  the  start. 
Virginia,  late  to  be  readmitted,  had  consolidated  her 
white  population  as  she  watched  the  troubles  in  South 
Carolina  and  Mississippi,  and  never  elected  a  radical 
administration.  In  North  Carolina,  after  a  fight  that 
approached  a  civil  war,  a  Democratic  State  Govern 
ment  was  chosen  in  1870.  The  rest  of  the  Con 
federate  States  followed  as  opportunity  offered  ;  after 
1872  the  process  was  rapid,  and  after  1876  there 
was  no  Republican  administration  in  the  old  South. 
The  Republican  party,  itself,  almost  disappeared  from 
the  South  at  this  time.  A  bare  organization,  largely 
manned  by  negroes,  endured  to  enjoy  the  offices 
which  a  Republican  National  Administration  could 
bestow,  and  to  contribute  pliant  delegations  to  the 
national  conventions  of  the  party.  But  the  South 
had  become  solid  in  the  sense  that  its  votes  were 
recorded  almost  automatically  for  the  Democratic 
ticket. 

\J  Force  and  fraud  played  a  large  part  in  the  res 
toration  of  white  control,  but  it  could  not  have  been 
effective  without  some  connivance  from  the  Nofth: 
Before  1872  the  keenness  of  Northern  radicalism 
was  blunted.  Thoughtful  Republicans  began  to  ex 
amine  their  work  and  criticize  it.  "  We  can  never  re 
construct  the  South,"  wrote  Lowell,  "  except  through 
its  own  leading  men,  nor  ever  hope  to  have  them  on 
our  side  till  we  make  it  for  their  interest  and  com 
patible  with  their  honor  to  be  so."  A  social  order 
which  needed  the  constant  support  of  troops  lost  the 
confidence  of  political  independents.  These,  as  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1872  drew  near,  openly  ex- 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE    55 

pressed  their  hostility  to  reconstruction  as  carried 
out  by  Grant,  and  threatened  to  prevent  his  reelec 
tion. 

The  first  term  of  Grant  ended  unsatisfactorily. 
His  appointments  to  office  were  marked  by  favorit 
ism  and  incapacity.  He  appointed  the  only  really 
inferior  man  who  has  ever  represented  the  United 
States  in  London,  —  one  who  thought  it  not  incom 
patible  with  his  high  office  to  publish  a  treatise  on 
draw-poker,  and  to  appear  as  bellwether  in  a  min 
ing  prospectus.  Grant's  personal  intimates  included 
shifty  financiers.  Corruption  and  misgovernment  at 
the  South  were  held  against  him,  though  Congress 
was  properly  to  blame  for  them.  Only  in  his  stand 
for  honest  finance,  his  effort  to  improve  the  Indian 
service,  and  his  conclusion  of  the  disputes  with  Great 
Britain,  could  his  suppdrters  take  great  pride. 

The  settlement  with  England  was  his  greatest 
achievement.  Since  the  summer  of  1862,  when  the 
Alabama  had  evaded  the  British  officials  and  had 
gone  to  sea,  the  American  Minister  in  London  had 
continued  to  press  for  damages.  The  Alabama  claims 
were  based  on  the  assertion  that  the  law  of  neutrals 
required  Great  Britain  to  prevent  any  hostile  vessel 
from  starting,  in  her  waters,  upon  a  cruise  against 
the  United  States.  In  the  face  of  official  rebuff  and 
popular  sneers  Charles  Francis  Adams  formulated 
the  claims.  His  successor,  Reverdy  Johnson,  reached 
a  sort  of  settlement  which  the  Senate  declined  to 
ratify,  and  which  Sumner  denounced.  It  was  Sum- 
ner's  contention  that  the  Civil  War  was  prolonged 
by  British  aid  and  that  a  demand  for  national  dam- 


56  THE  NEW  NATION 

ages  (perhaps  $2,000,000,000,  or  Canada,  by  way 
of  substitute)  ought  to  be  advanced.  So  tense  did 
the  international  situation  become  in  1869  and  1870 
that  friends  of  peace  were  frightened.  Boundaries, 
fisheries,  and  general  claims  aggravated  the  situa 
tion,  which  was  given  into  the  hands  of  a  Joint  High 
Commission,  hastily  summoned  to  meet  in  Washing 
ton  in  1870.  The  resulting  Treaty  of  Washington, 
and  the  successful  arbitrations  which  followed  it, 
eliminated  Sumner's  extreme  contention  but  vindi 
cated  the  main  American  claims  and  founded  Anglo- 
American  relations  on  a  more  secure  basis  than  they 
had  ever  known.  It  was  Grant's  great  triumph,  but 
it  was  a  political  danger  as  well,  for  the  negotiator 
in  charge,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  loomed  up  as  the 
possible  presidential  candidate  of  the  Republican 
dissenters. 

The  Liberal  Republicans  included  the  enemies  of 
Grant  as  well  as  dissatisfied  reformers  of  all  sorts. 
Carl  Schurz,  the  great  German-American  indepen 
dent,  was  their  leader.  Horace  Greeley,  whose  Tri 
bune  had  done  much  to  make  the  Republican  party 
possible,  gave  them  his  support.  Charles  Francis 
Adams  was  not  indifferent  to  them.  Salmon  P.  Chase 
wanted  their  nomination.  Young  newspapermen,  like 
Whitelaw  Reid  and  Henry  Watterson,  tried  to  con 
trol  them.  And  the  new  group  of  civil  service  re 
formers,  disappointed  in  Grant,  hoped  that  the  new 
party  would  take  a  step  toward  better  government. 
At  Cincinnati,  in  May,  1872,  they  met  in  mass  con 
vention,  and  nominated  Horace  Greeley  and  Gratz 
Brown.  Their  platform  denounced  Republican  re- 


THE  RESTORATION  OF  HOME  RULE  57 

construction,  urged  the  return  to  self-government  in 
the  South,  and  advocated  civil  service  reform,  specie 
payments,  and  maintenance  of  public  credit.  The 
schism  became  more  threatening  when  the  Demo 
crats  saw  a  chance  through  fusion,  and  nominated 
the  same  candidates  at  Baltimore  in  July. 

No  quainter  political  figure  has  appeared  in  Amer 
ica  than  Horace  Greeley,  thus  transferred  from  his 
editorial  office  to  the  stump.  Long  used  to  the  free 
dom  of  the  press,  he  had  advocated  many  things  in 
his  lifetime,  had  examined  and  exploited  unpopular 
social  reforms,  had  contradicted  himself  and  retraced 
his  tracks  repeatedly.  The  biting  cartoons  of  Nast 
exploited  all  these ;  but  no  contrast  was  so  absurd  as 
that  which  brought  to  the  great  denouncer  of  slavery 
and  the  South  the  support  of  the  party  of  the  South. 

The  Republican  Convention  renominated  Grant 
at  Philadelphia  without  opposition,  refused  Colfax  a 
second  term,  and  picked  Henry  Wilson  for  Vice- 
President.  Its  platform,  as  in  1868,  was  retrospec 
tive,  taking  pride  in  its  great  achievements  and 
assuming  full  credit  for  the  war,  reconstruction,  and 
financial  honor.  It  offered  its  ticket  to  all  the  States 
for  the  first  time  since  1860,  and  elected  Grant  with 
ease.  The  inharmonious  Democrat-Liberal-Repub 
lican  alliance  increased  the  Republican  majority, 
but  the  returns  from  the  South  confirmed  the  sus 
picion  that  home  rule  was  in  sight. 

Restored  completely  to  themselves,  four  years 
later,  the  Southern  Governments  ceased  to  play 
much  part  in  national  affairs  and  continued  the 
economic  rebuilding  of  their  region.  It  was  thirty 


58  THE  NEW  NATION 

years  after  the  war  before  the  South,  in  population 
and  business,  had  recovered  from  its  devastation, 
and  even  then  it  was  far  from  subordinating  its  local 
politics  to  national  issues. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  writings  of  Rhodes  and  Dunning  contain  the  best  com 
prehensive  accounts  of  political  reconstruction.  For  greater 
detail,  the  series  of  doctoral  dissertations  on  reconstruction  in 
the  several  States,  directed  by  Professor  Dunning  and  printed 
generally  in  the  Columbia  University  Studies,  has  great  value. 
In  W.  L.  Fleming,  Documentary  History  of  Reconstruction  (2 
vols.,  1906),  important  selections  from  the  sources  have  been 
printed  ;  the  same  writer's  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction  in 
Alabama  (1905)  is  the  best  account  of  the  process  in  a  single 
State.  J.  A.  Woodburn,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  is  useful.  The  old 
and  new  economic  systems  of  the  South  receive  their  keenest 
interpretation  in  the  works  of  U.  B.  Phillips  and  A.  H.  Stone. 
The  Annual  Cyclopcedia  continues  valuable  ;  the  Report  of  the 
Ku-Klux  Committee  is  invaluable  (42d  Congress,  2d  Session, 
Senate  Report,  No.  41,  13  vols.).  Harper's  Weekly,  which  sup 
ported  Grant  in  1872,  was  the  most  prominent  journal  of  the 
period.  C.  F.  Adams,  Jr.,  has  contributed  to  the  diplomatic 
history  of  these  years  his  Charles  Francis  Adams  (1900,  in 
American  Statesmen  Series),  and  his  "  Treaty  of  Washing 
ton"  (in  Lee  and  Appomattox,  1902).  Elaborate  details  of  the 
arbitrations  are  in  J.  B.  Moore,  History  and  Digest  of  the  In 
ternational  Arbitrations  to  which  the  United  States  has  been  a 
Party  (6  vols.,  1898).  An  interesting  series  of  recollections  of 
reconstruction  events,  by  Watterson,  Reid,  Edmunds,  and  oth 
ers,  was  printed  in  the  Century  Magazine  during  1913. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   PANIC    OP    1873 

"  ARE  not  all  the  great  communities  of  the  West 
ern  World  growing  more  corrupt  as  they  grow  in 
wealth?"  asked  a  critical  and  thoughtful  journalist, 
Edwin  L.  Godkin,  in  1868,  as  he  considered  the  re 
lations  of  business  and  politics.  He  answered  him 
self  in  the  affirmative  and  found  comrades  in  his 
pessimism  throughout  that  intellectual  class  in  whose 
achievements  America  has  taken  conscious  pride. 
For  at  least  ten  years  they  despaired  of  the  return 
of  honesty.  James  Russell  Lowell,  decorated  with 
the  D.C.L.  of  Oxford,  and  honored  everywhere  in 
the  world  of  letters,  was  filled  with  doubt  and  dis 
may  as  late  as  1876,  at  "the  degradation  of  the 
moral  tone.  Is  it,  or  is  it  not,"  he  asked,  "a  result 
of  democracy  ?  Is  ours  a  4  government  of  the  people 
by  the  people  for  the  people,'  or  ...  for  the  bene 
fit  of  knaves  at  the  cost  of  fools?  " 

It  was  not  without  reason  that  serious  men  were 
fearful  in  the  years  in  which  military  heroes  domin 
ated  in  politics,  and  in  which  commerce  struggled 
with  its  revolution.  Had  they  foreseen  the  course  of 
the  next  generation,  noted  the  progress  of  new  ideas 
in  government,  the  extension  of  philanthropy  and 
social  relief,  and  the  passion  for  education  that  swept 
the  country,  they  need  not  have  despaired.  Godkin, 


60  THE  NEW  NATION 

himself,  could  not  have  made  a  living  from  his  Na 
tion^  with  its  high  ideals,  its  criticism,  and  its  de 
spondency,  in  a  land  that  was  wholly  rotten.  The 
young  college  presidents  of  the  period  could  not  have 
found  a  livelihood  in  a  country  that  was  not  funda 
mentally  sound.  At  Harvard,  Charles  "William  Eliot 
broke  down  the  old  technique  of  culture  and  enlarged 
its  range  ;  at  Michigan,  James  Burrill  Angell  proved 
it  possible  to  maintain  sound,  scholarly,  and  non- 
political  education,  in  a  public  institution  supported 
by  taxation ;  in  a  new  university  a  private  benefactor, 
Johns  Hopkins,  gave  to  Daniel  Coit  Gilman  a  chance 
to  show  that  creative  scholarship  can  flourish  in  a  de 
mocracy.  But  the  essential  soundness  of  the  Eepublic 
was  as  much  obscured  in  1868  as  its  wealth  had  been 
in  1861,  and  for  the  present  the  objects  on  the  sur 
face,  brought  there  by  violent  convulsion,  represented 
its  less  creditable  part. 

The  years  of  Grant's  Presidency  were  filled  with 
unsightly  episodes,  that  were  scandalous  then  and 
have  been  discouraging  always.  In  his  first  year  of 
office,  Jay  Gould  and  James  Fisk,  tempted  by  the 
premium  on  gold,  tried  to  corner  the  market,  and 
Grant's  public  association  with  the  speculators 
brought  upon  him  fair  reproach.  Tweed,  exposed 
and  jailed  after  a  long  fight,  revealed  the  close  alli 
ance  between  crooked  politics  and  business  in  the 
cities,  and  became  a  national  disgrace.  Less  promi 
nent  than  these  but  far  from  proper  were  Schenck 
and  Fremont.  The  latter  was  arrested  in  France, 
charged  with  promoting  a  railroad  on  the  strength  of 
land  grants  that  did  not  exist.  He  had  been  close  to 


THE  PANIC  OF   1873  61 

the  old  Republican  organization,  and  the  figurehead 
of  the  radicals  in  1864,  so  that  his  notoriety  was 
great.  Schenck,  while  Minister  in  London,  posed  as 
director  of  a  mining  company,  and  borrowed  from 
the  promoters  of  the  scheme  the  money  with  which 
he  bought  his  shares.  When  the  company  proved 
insolvent,  and  perhaps  fraudulent,  Grant  was  forced 
to  recall  him.  Critics  who  saw  dishonesty  or  low 
ethical  standards  in  these  men  were  ready  to  see  in 
the  carnival  of  the  Eeconstruction  Governments 
wholesale  proofs  of  decadence. 

During  the  campaign  of  1872  yet  another  item 
was  added  to  the  unpleasant  list.  Letters  were  made 
public  showing  how  Congressmen  had  taken  pay,  or 
its  equivalent,  from  men  behind  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad.  The  scandal  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  touched 
men  in  all  walks  of  life,  beginning  with  Schuyler 
Colfax,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  includ 
ing  Blaine,  Allison,  and  Garfield,  Wilson  and  Dawes, 
and  other  men  who  no  longer  held  office.  Some  of 
these  denied  the  charges  and  proved  their  innocence. 
But  none  entirely  escaped  the  suspicion  that  their 
sense  of  official  propriety  was  low,  and  their  list 
sampled  the  Republican  party  at  all  its  levels.  One 
of  the  victims,  Colfax,  talked  freely  in  1870  of  gifts 
received  —  a  carriage  from  a  Congressman  and 
horses  from  an  express  company. 

In  1872  the  notorious  Butler  aimed  at  the  gov 
ernorship  of  Massachusetts.  He  failed  to  get  the 
Republican  nomination,  but  the  strength  of  his  can 
didacy  showed  the  uncritical  devotion  of  many  vot 
ers  to  success.  He  resumed  his  seat  in  Congress, 


62  THE  NEW  NATION 

unabashed,  and  put  through  an  act  properly  increas 
ing  the  salaries  of  Washington  officials,  but  applying 
also  to  the  men  who  voted  for  it  and  to  the  session 
just  ending.  Its  makers  went  home  to  explain  their 
part  in  the  "  salary  grab  "  to  their  constituents,  and 
many  never  returned  to  Congress. 

Other  improprieties  of  the  first  Administration  of 
Grant  came  to  light  in  his  second  term.  His  Secre 
tary  of  Wrar,  Belknap,  confessed  to  the  sale  of  offices. 
In  the  Treasury  Department  were  uncovered  the 
whiskey  frauds  which  tainted  even  Grant's  private 
secretary.  And  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  Blaine, 
was  shown  to  have  urged  a  railroad  company  to 
recognize  his  official  aid,  promising  not  to  be  a  "  dead 
head  in  the  enterprise  "  in  its  future  service. 

There  is  no  better  illustration  of  the  commercial 
ethics  of  the  sixties  than  may  be  found  in  the  letters 
of  Jay  Cooke,  philanthropist  and  financier.  With  a 
lively  and  sincere  piety,  and  an  unrestrained  gener 
osity,  he  at  once  extended  hospitalities  to  the  politi 
cal  leaders  of  the  day,  carried  their  private  specula 
tions  on  his  books,  and  performed  official  services  to 
the  Government.  It  was  impossible  to  tell  where  his 
public  service  ended  and  his  private  emolument 
began,  but  there  was  nothing  in  his  life  of  which  he 
was  ashamed.  A  friend  of  General  Grant,  and  liberal 
patron  of  his  children,  Cooke  was  actually  entertain 
ing  the  President  at  his  country  home  just  outside 
of  Philadelphia  when  the  failure  of  his  banking 
house  precipitated  the  panic  of  1873. 

There  had  been  financial  uneasiness  abroad  and 
in  the  United  States  for  several  months,  but  few  had 


THE  PANIC  OF   1873  63 

anticipated  the  collapse  of  credit  that  followed  the 
suspension  of  Jay  Cooke  and  Company,  September 
18,  1873.  If  this  house  failed,  none  could  be  re 
garded  as  safe.  Jay  Cooke  had  established  his  repu 
tation  during  the  Civile-War  through  his  ability  to 
find  a  market  for  United  States  bonds.  After  the 
war  he  had  carried  his  activity  and  prestige  into 
railways.  In  1869  he  had  become  the  financial  agent 
of  the  Northern  Pacific,  and  customers,  encouraged 
by  their  good  bargains  in  the  past,  continued  to  in 
vest  through  him  as  he  directed.  His  personal  fol 
lowers,  numerous  and  confident,  had  been  taught  to 
believe  his  credit  as  sound  as  that  of  the  Govern 
ment  whose  bonds  he  had  handled.  When  he  col 
lapsed,  overloaded  with  Northern  Pacific  securities, 
in  which  his  confidence  was  enthusiastic,  the  panic 
was  so  acute  that  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange 
closed  its  doors  for  ten  days,  to  prevent  the  ruinous 
prices  that  forced  sales  might  have  created.  Thirty 
or  more  banking  houses  were  drawn  down  by  the 
crash  within  forty-eight  hours.  Others  followed  in  all 
the  business  centers,  while  trade  stood  still  through 
the  paralysis  of  its  banking  agents. 

The  distribution  of  the  panic  throughout  the 
United  States  followed  the  usual  course.  In  the  first 
crisis,  banking  houses  broke  down,  unable  to  meet 
the  runs  of  their  depositors  or  their  original  obliga 
tions.  The  depositors  next,  unable  to  secure  their 
own  funds  or  to  obtain  their  usual  loans,  were  driven 
to  insolvency.  After  the  failure  of  banks  came  that  of 
railroads,  the  wholesale  houses,  and  the  factories.  As 
these  last  defaulted,  the  loss  was  spread  over  their 


64  THE  NEW  NATION 

employees,  their  contractors,  and  their  creditors. 
Confidence  was  everywhere  destroyed.  Investments 
were  lost,  or  lessened,  or  put  off  indefinitely  in  their 
payments.  After  a  few  days  the  acute  crisis  was 
over,  but  the  resulting  depression  brought  stagna 
tion  to  business.  Industries  marked  time,  at  best; 
expansions  were  out  of  the  question ;  new  enter 
prises  were  not  heard  of.  From  1873  until  1879 
the  United  States  was  engaged  in  recovery  from  the 
injury  which  the  panic  had  done  and  from  the  weak 
ness  which  it  had  revealed. 

The  panic,  followed  by  five  years  of  economic 
prostration,  was  only  occasioned  by  the  failure  of 
Cooke.  Its  real  causes  lie  throughout  the  period  of 
Civil  War  expansion.  Never  had  the  daily  necessi 
ties  of  the  United  States  equaled  its  production,  and 
the  resulting  surplus,  available  for  permanent  im 
provements,  was  larger  than  ever  in  the  sixties  be 
cause  of  the  growing  use  of  machinery.  Funds  for 
investment,  produced  at  home  and  increased  through 
the  strong  foreign  credit  of  the  United  States, 
tempted  and  aided  the  speculative  development  of 
the  North  and  West.  Yearly  greater  sums  were  sunk 
in  municipal  improvements  that  brought  in  no  return, 
or  in  railroads  that  were  slow  in  paying,  or  in  errors 
that  were  a  dead  loss.  The  loss  from  the  Civil  War 
was  an  added  charge  upon  the  surplus.  Great  fires 
in  Boston  and  Chicago  consumed  more  of  it.  By 
1870  the  United  States  was  using  surplus  at  a  rate 
that  threatened  soon  to  exhaust  it.  When  the  limit 
should  be  reached,  new  enterprises  must  necessarily 
cease,  and  all  that  were  not  wisely  planned  must  fall, 


THE  PANIC  OF  1873  65 

dragging  down  others  in  their  ruins.  For  months  be 
fore  the  failure  of  Jay  Cooke,  business  had  been 
dangerously  near  this  margin.  His  failure,  caused  by 
his  inability  to  find  a  market  for  Northern  Pacific, 
merely  precipitated  the  inevitable  crash. 

The  faulty  currency,  outstanding  since  the  war, 
and  adding  to  the  business  uncertainty,  now  aggra 
vated  the  panic  when  it  broke.  The  greenbacks  were 
slowly  rising  in  value.  They  profited  by  the  growing 
credit  of  the  United  States,  and  received  a  special 
increase  because  of  the  development  of  business. 
After  1865  business  transactions  grew  in  number 
and  volume  more  rapidly  than  the  amount  of  avail 
able  money,  and  this,  driven  to  greater  activity  in 
circulation,  rose  in  value  from  the  increased  demand. 
As  the  purchasing  value  of  the  dollar  increased, 
prices,  measured  by  the  greenbacks,  necessarily  fell, 
while  the  equivalent  of  every  debt  that  had  to  be 
paid  in  a  specified  number  of  dollars  as  steadily  rose. 
Indeed,  so  great  was  the  increase  of  production  from 
the  new  farms,  reached  by  the  new  railroads,  and 
supplying  raw  materials  for  the  new  factory  pro 
cesses,  that  prices  fell,  even  when  stated  in  terms  of 
gold.  In  a  period  of  falling  prices  and  appreciating 
currency,  the  gap  between  the  poor  and  the  rich  was 
widened.  The  debtor  carried  a  growing  burden  while 
the  creditor  harvested  an  unearned  increase.  Persons 
who  lived  on  fixed  salary  or  income  profited  by  the 
fluctuations,  but  commercial  transactions  were  made 
more  difficult  for  the  debtor. 

The  organized  Greenback  movement  had  figured 
in  politics  during  the  campaign  of  1868,  and  made  a 


66  THE  NEW  NATION 

special  appeal  to  the  debtor  section  during  the  hard 
times  after  1873.  The  Republican  Congress  had,  in 
1869,  sealed  the  professions  of  the  party's  platform 
by  passing  a  resolution  "to  strengthen  the  public 
credit,"  in  which  it  declared  "that  the  faith  of  the 
United  States  is  solemnly  pledged  to  the  payment  in 
coin  or  its  equivalent,"  of  the  greenbacks,  and  that 
the  United  States  would  not  take  advantage  of  its 
creditors  by  paying  off  its  "  lawful-money  "  bonds  in 
depreciated  paper.  All  debts  created  before  the  war  or 
during  its  early  years  had  lost  through  depreciation, 
just  as  the  later  debts  had  gained  through  the  reverse. 
Despite  this  pledge,  advocates  of  greenback  infla 
tion,  with  Butler  among  their  leaders,  became  more 
numerous  in  both  parties  after  the  panic,  and  an  at 
tempt  was  made  to  have  Congress  reverse  itself. 
Grant's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  gave  a  new  con 
struction  to  the  law  by  reissuing  during  the  critical 
days  of  the  panic  some  $26,000,000  of  greenbacks 
that  had  been  called  in  by  McCulloch.  He  raised  the 
total  outstanding  to  $382,000,000,  and  Congress 
in  1874  passed  a  law  increasing  the  amount  to 
$400,000,000,  in  an  act  named  by  its  opponents  the 
"Inflation  Bill."  To  the  surprise  of  many,  Grant 
sharply  vetoed  the  act,  adhering  to  his  views  of  1869 
on  the  evils  of  an  irredeemable  paper  currency. 
During  the  next  winter  John  Sherman,  Senator  from 
Ohio,  induced  Congress  to  take  a  step  in  fulfillment 
of  the  guaranty  which  Grant  had  saved.  On  Janu 
ary  14,  1875,  it  was  provided  that  the  Treasury 
should  resume  the  payment  of  specie  on  demand  on 
January  1,  1879. 


THE  PANIC  OF  1873  67 

Ultimately  Congress  was  saved  from  the  act  of 
repudiation  which  the  Greenbackers  urged  upon  it, 
but  while  the  movement  flourished  it  added  another 
to  the  catalogue  of  troubles  with  which  men  like 
Godkin  and  Lowell  were  distressed.  Easterners,  in 
general,  had  as  little  understanding  of  the  West  as 
they  had  had  of  the  race  problem  in  the  South.  They 
were  disposed  to  attribute  to  inherent  dishonesty  the 
inflation  movement,  and  to  ignore  the  real  economic 
grievance  upon  which  it  was  founded.  The  suspicions 
directed  against  the  ethical  standards  of  the  West 
were  increased  by  the  Granger  movement,  to  which 
the  panic  gave  volume  and  importance. 

Among  the  social  phenomena  of  1873—74  was  the 
sudden  emergence  in  the  Northwest  of  a  semi-secret, 
ritualistic  society,  calling  itself  the  "  Patrons  of  Hus 
bandry,"  but  popularly  known  as  the  "  Grange."  It 
was  founded  locally  upon  the  soil,  in  farmers'  clubs, 
or  granges,  at  whose  meetings  the  men  talked  poli 
tics,  while  their  wives  prepared  a  picnic  supper  and 
the  children  played  outdoors.  It  had  had  a  nominal 
existence  since  1867,  but  during  the  panic  it  unex 
pectedly  met  a  new  need  and  grew  rapidly,  creating 
1000  or  more  local  granges  a  month,  until  at  its  max 
imum  in  1874  it  embraced  perhaps  20,000  granges 
and  1,600,000  persons.  In  theory  the  granges  were 
grouped  by  States,  which  latter  were  consolidated  in 
the  National  Grange ;  in  fact,  the  movement  was 
almost  entirely  confined  to  the  region  north  of  the 
Ohio  River,  and  even  to  the  district  northwest  of 
Chicago. 

Such  a  movement  as  the  Grange,  revealing  a  com- 


68  THE  NEW  NATION 

mon  purpose  over  a  wide  area  and  in  a  great  number 
of  citizens,  could  not  but  affect  party  allegiance  and 
the  conduct  of  party  leaders.  Simultaneously  with 
its  development  the  legislatures  of  the  Northwest — 
Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa  —  became  restive  under 
existing  conditions,  and  assumed  an  attitude  which 
became  characteristic  of  the  Grange,  —  one  of  hos 
tility  to  railroads  and  their  management.  With  the 
approval  of  the  people,  these  States  passed,  between 
1871  and  1874,  a  series  of  regulative  acts  respecting 
the  railways,  which  were  known  at  the  start  as  the 
"Granger  Laws,"  and  which  became  a  permanent 
contribution  to  American  government. 

To  Eastern  opinion  the  Greenback  movement  had 
been  barefaced  repudiation ;  the  Granger  movement 
seemed  to  be  confiscation ;  for  every  law  provided 
a  means  by  which  public  authority  should  fix  the 
charge  imposed  by  the  railroad  upon  its  customer. 
Both  movements  need  to  be  studied  in  their  local 
environment,  which  at  least  explains  the  Western 
zeal  in  clamoring  for  the  greenbacks,  and  shows  that 
in  the  Granger  movement  the  West  saw  farther  than 
it  knew. 

The  Civil  War  period  marks  a  new  era  in  the  his 
tory  of  American  railways.  Prior  to  the  panic  of 
1837,  the  few  lines  that  were  built  were  local.  Few 
could  foresee  that  the  railway  would  ever  be  more 
than  an  adjunct  to  the  turnpike  and  canal  in  bring 
ing  the  city  centers  closer  to  their  environs.  In  the 
revival  of  industry  after  the  panic  of  1837,  the 
mileage  increased  progressively,  and  before  the  next 
panic  checked  business  in  1857  the  tidewater  region 


THE  PANIC  OF  1873  69 

was  well  provided,  and  the  Alleghanies  had  been 
crossed  by  several  trunk  lines  whose  heads  extended 
to  the  Lakes  and  to  the  Mississippi.  But  in  these 
years  the  change  was  of  degree  rather  than  of  kind. 
The  lines  were  built  to  supplement  existing  routes, 
like  the  Erie  Canal,  the  Lakes,  the  Ohio  River,  or 
the  Mississippi.  They  connected  communities  already 
well  developed  and  prosperous,  and  in  undertaking 
new  enterprises  promoters  had  figured  upon  captur 
ing  the  profits  of  existing  trade. 

In  the  new  epoch  of  the  sixties  there  were  only 
new  fields  to  conquer.  The  great  enterprises  were 
forced  to  speculate  upon  the  development  of  the  pub 
lic  domain  and  to  find  their  profits  in  the  business 
of  communities  to  which  they  themselves  gave  birth. 
Natural  waterways  and  roads  extended  little  west  of 
Chicago.  The  new  fields  were  entered  by  the  rail 
roads  without  prospect  of  any  competition  but  that 
of  other  railroads.  The  resulting  communities,  born 
and  developed  between  1857  and  1873,  were  pecu 
liarly  the  creatures  of,  and  dependent  on,  the  rail 
way  lines. 

This  inevitable  dependence  on  railways  colored 
the  history  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  and, 
to  a  lesser  degree,  of  all  the  West.  While  men  were 
yet  prosperous  and  sanguine  and  without  adequate 
railway  service,  they  offered  high  inducements  to 
promoters  of  railways.  Once  the  roads  were  built 
and  the  communities  began  to  pay  for  them  and  to 
maintain  them,  the  dependence  was  realized  arid  anti- 
railway  agitation  began.  The  fact  that  they  were 
commonly  built  on  money  borrowed  from  the  East 


70  THE  NEW  NATION 

threw  debtors  and  creditors  into  sectional  classes  in 
jurious  to  both. 

The  antagonism  to  railways  was  increased  because 
these  yet  regarded  their  trade  as  private,  to  be  con 
ducted  in  secrecy,  with  transportation  to  be  sold  at 
the  best  rates  that  could  be  got  from  the  individual 
customer.  The  big  shipper  got  the  wholesale  rate ; 
the  small  shipper  paid  the  maximum.  Favoritism,  dis 
crimination,  rebates,  were  the  life  of  railway  trade, 
and  railway  managers  objected  to  them  only  because 
they  endangered  profits,  not  because  they  felt  any 
obligation  to  maintain  uniformity  in  charges. 

In  a  community  as  dependent  on  the  railways  as 
the  Northwest  was,  the  iniquity  of  discriminatory  or 
extortionate  rates  was  soon  seen.  The  East,  with 
rival  routes  and  less  dependence  on  staple  interests, 
saw  it  less  clearly.  The  charges  were  paid  grumb- 
lingly  in  good  times ;  in  bad  times,  when  the  rising 
greenbacks  squeezed  the  debtor  West  and  the  panic 
of  1873  stopped  business  everywhere,  the  farmers 
soon  made  common  cause.  They  seized  upon  the 
skeleton  organization  of  the  grange  and  gave  it  life. 
In  1874  their  organized  discontent  compelled  at 
tention. 

The  Granger  Laws  were  an  attempt  to  establish 
.a  new  legal  doctrine  that  railways  are  quasi-public 
because  of  the  nature  of  the  service  which  they 
render  and  the  privileges  they  enjoy.  This  principle 
was  overlaid  in  many  cases  by  the  human  desire  to 
punish  the  railroads  as  the  cause  of  economic  dis 
tress,  but  it  was  visible  in  all  the  laws.  It  is  an  old 
rule  of  the  common  law  that  the  ferryman,  the  baker, 


THE  PANIC  OF  1873  71 

and  the  innkeeper  are  subject  to  public  control,  and 
railways  were  now  classified  with  these.  In  Wiscon 
sin,  the  "  Potter  "  Law  established  a  schedule  with 
classified  rates,  superseding  all  rate-cards  of  rail 
roads  in  that  State.  Illinois  created  a  railroad  and 
warehouse  commission  with  power  to  fix  rates  and 
annul  warehouse  charters.  In  Iowa  the  maximum 
rates  were  fixed  by  law. 

The  railroads  failed  to  realize  at  once  what  the 
new  laws  meant.  They  denounced  them  as  confisca- 
tory,  and  attacked  them  in  court  as  wrong  in  theory 
and  bad  in  application.  Even  admitting  the  principle 
of  regulation,  the  laws  were  so  crudely  shaped  as  to 
be  nearly  unworkable.  Farmer  legislators,  chosen  on 
the  issue  of  opposition  to  railways,  were  not  likely 
to  show  either  fairness  or  scientific  knowledge.  Com 
ing  at  the  same  time  with  the  panic  of  1873,  it  is 
impossible  to  measure  the  precise  effect  of  any  of 
these  laws,  and  all  were  modified  before  many  years. 
But  the  railroads'  objection  lay  beneath  the  detail, 
and  the  fundamental  fight  turned  on  two  points  — 
the  right  of  public  authority  to  regulate  a  rate  at  all, 
and  whether  state  regulation  was  compatible  with 
the  power  of  Congress  over  interstate  commerce. 

By  1876  the  appeals  of  the  railroads  against  the 
constitutionality  of  these  Granger  Laws  had  gone 
through  the  highest  state  courts  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  In  the  spring  of  1877 
that  body  handed  down  a  definitive  decision  in  the 
case  of  Munn  vs.  the  State  of  Illinois  in  which  it 
recognized  that  the  "  controlling  fact  is  the  power  to 
regulate  at  all."  It  held  that  when  the  institutions 


72  THE  NEW  NATION 

in  question  (in  this  case  warehouses)  established 
themselves,  they  did  so  "  from  the  beginning  subject 
to  the  power  of  the  body  politic  to  require  them  to 
conform  to  such  regulations  as  might  be  established 
by  the  proper  authorities  for  the  common  good." 
It  upheld  the  rate  laws,  declared  that  they  were 
not  an  infringement  upon  the  powers  of  Congress, 
and  thus  gave  formal  sanction  to  a  new  doctrine  in 
American  law. 

The  legal  consequences  of  the  "  Granger  Cases  " 
extended  through  the  ensuing  generation.  The  need 
for  public  intervention  grew  steadily  stronger,  and 
as  time  went  on  it  became  clear  that  this  control 
could  not  be  administered  by  orators  or  spoilsmen, 
but  called  for  scientific  training  and  permanence  of 
policy.  It  was  one  of  many  influences  working  to 
reshape  American  administrative  practice. 

The  Granger  movement  had  close  relations  with 
the  panic  of  1873,  although  it  must  anyway  have 
appeared  in  the  Northwest  at  no  remote  date.  As  a 
political  force  it  soon  died  out,  leaving  the  principle 
of  regulation  as  its  memorial.  With  the  gradual  re 
currence  of  prosperity  the  Northwest  found  new  in 
terests,  and  as  early  as  1877,  when  the  decisions 
were  made,  the  passion  had  subsided. 

It  was,  however,  a  gloomy  United  States  that 
faced  the  end  of  its  first  century  of  independence,  in 
1876.  Pessimism  was  widely  spread  among  the  best 
educated  in  the  East.  Public  life  was  everywhere 
discredited  by  the  conduct  of  high  officials.  The 
South  was  in  the  midst  of  its  struggle  for  home  rule, 
which  it  could  win  only  through  wholesale  force  and 


THE  PANIC  OF   1873  73 

fraud.  The  West  was  discouraged  over  finance  and 
still  depressed  by  the  panic.  Yet  Philadelphia  went 
ahead  to  celebrate  the  centennial  as  though  it  were 
ending  the  century  as  hopefully  as  it  had  begun. 

The  Exposition  at  Philadelphia  this  year  was  a 
revelation  to  the  United  States.  Though  far  sur 
passed  by  later  "world's  fairs,"  it  displayed  the 
wide  resources  of  the  United  States  and  brought 
home  the  difference  between  American  and  European 
civilization.  The  foreign  exhibits  first  had  a  chasten 
ing  influence  upon  American  exuberance,  and  then 
stimulated  the  development  of  higher  artistic  stand 
ards.  In  ingenuity  the  American  mind  held  its  own 
against  all  competition.  But  few  Americans  had  trav 
eled,  the  cheap  processes  of  illustration  were  yet 
unknown,  and  in  the  resulting  ignorance  the  United 
States  had  been  left  to  its  assumption  of  a  superior 
ity  unjustified  by  the  facts.  From  the  centennial 
year  may  be  dated  the  closer  approach  of  American 
standards  to  those  of  the  better  classes  of  Europe. 

In  the  summer  of  1876  the  thirty-eighth  State, 
Colorado,  was  added  to  the  Union.  It  had  been  sev 
enteen  years  since  the  miners  thronged  the  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  plains,  bound  for  "Pike's  Peak  or 
Bust !  "  In  the  interval  the  mining  <feamps  had  be 
come  permanent  communities.  Authorized  in  1864 
to  form  a  State,  they  had  declined  to  accept  the 
responsibility  and  had  lingered  for  many  years  with 
only  a  handful  of  inhabitants.  Now  and  then  entirely 
isolated  from  the  United  States  by  Indian  wars,  they 
had  prayed  for  the  continental  railroad,  only  to  be 
disappointed  when  the  Union  Pacific  went  through 


74  THE  NEW  NATION 

Cheyenne  instead  of  Denver.  One  of  the  branches 
of  the  Union  Pacific  was  extended  to  Denver  in 
1870,  and  thereafter  Colorado  grew  in  spite  of  the 
panic  of  1873.  Grant  began  to  urge  its  admission  in 
his  first  Administration,  and  signed  a  proclamation 
admitting  it  in  1876.  It  came  in  in  time  to  cast  three 
Republican  electoral-  votes  in  the  most  troublesome 
presidential  contest  the  United  States  had  seen. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Among  the  more  valuable  books  of  biography  and  reminis 
cence  for  this  period  are  R.  Ogden,  Life  and  Letters  of  Edwin 
Lawrence  Godkin  (2  vols.,  1907)  ;  H.  E.  Scudder,  James  Rus 
sell  Lowell  (2  vols.,  1901)  ;  C.  E.  Norton,  ed.,  Letters  ofJ.  R. 
Lowell  (1894)  ;  Reminiscences  of  James  B.  Angell  (1912)  ;  J. 
T.  Austen,  Moses  Coit  Tyler,  1835-1900  (1911);  J.  G.  Elaine, 
Twenty  Years  of  Congress ;  E.  P.  Oberholtzer,  Jay  Cooke ; 
and  A.  B.  Paine,  Th.  Nast  (1904).  The  Credit  Mobilier  may 
best  be  studied  in  Rhodes,  in  J.  B.  Crawford,  Credit  Mobilier 
of  America  (1880),  and  in  the  reports  of  the  committees  of 
Congress  that  investigated  the  scandal  (42d  Congress,  2d  Ses 
sion,  House  Report  no.  77).  J.  W.  Million,  State  Aid  to  Rail 
ways  in  Missouri  (1896),  gives  a  good  view  of  railroad  promo 
tion  schemes.  F.  Carter,  When  Railroads  were  New  (1909),  is 
a  popular  summary.  In  J.  R.  Commons  (ed.),  Documentary 
History  of  American  Industrial  Society  (10  vols.,  1910-  ),  are 
various  documents  relating  to  the  Grange,  which  organization, 
received  its  classic  treatment  in  E.  W.  Martin,  History  of  the 
Granger  Movement  (1874  ;  his  illustrations  should  be  com 
pared  with  those  in  J.  H.  Beadle,  Our  Undeveloped  West,  in 
which  some  of  them  had  originally  appeared  in  1873).  There 
are  numerous  economic  discussions  of  the  Grange  in  the  peri 
odicals,  which  may  be  found  through  Poole's  Indexes,  the  best 
work  having  been  done  by  S.  J.  Buck.  The  Chapters  of  Erie 
(1869),  by  C.  F.  Adams,  is  a  valuable  picture  of  railroad  ethics. 
Much  light  is  thrown  upon  financial  matters  by  the  Annual 
Reports  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  J.  D.  Richard 
son  (ed.),  Messages Jand  Papers  of  the  Presidents  (10  vols.). 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    HAYES    ADMINISTRATION 

THE  reelection  of  Grant  in  1872  was  almost  auto 
matic.  No  new  issue  had  forced  itself  into  politics  to 
stir  up  the  old  party  fires  or  light  new  ones.  The  old 
issues  had  begun  to  lose  their  force.  Men  ceased  to 
respond  when  told  that  the  Union  was  in  danger ; 
they  questioned  or  ignored  the  statement.  Many  of 
them  contradicted  it  and  voted  for  Greeleyin  1872, 
but  they  were  impelled  to  this  by  repulsion  from  Re 
publican  practice  rather  than  by  attraction  to  Demo 
cratic  promise.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  the  habit  of  voting 
the  Union  or  Republican  ticket  retained  its  hold 
on  so  many  in  the  North  that  Grant's  second  term 
was  insured,  and  it  was  even  possible  that  a  Repub 
lican  successor  might  profit  by  the  same  political 
inertia. 

The  second  term  (1873-77)  added  no  strength  to 
Grant  or  to  his  party.  Throughout  its  course,  admin 
istrative  scandals  continued  to  come  to  light,  striking 
at  times  dangerously  near  the  President,  but  failing 
to  injure  him  other  than  in  his  repute  for  judgment. 
The  period  was  one  of  financial  depression  and  dis 
couragement.  The  best  intellect  of  the  United  States 
was  directed  into  business,  the  professions,  and  edu 
cational  administration.  Politics  was  generally  left 
to  the  men  who  had  already  controlled  it,  and  these 


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78  THE  NEW  NATION 

were  the  men  who  had  risen  into  prominence  in  the 
period  of  the  Civil  War. 

A  new  and  not  a  better  type  was  brought  into 
American  politics  by  the  Civil  Wrar.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  bad  manners  and  excesses  of  ante-bellum 
politics,  the  leaders  had  been  men  of  denned  policy, 
only  occasionally  reaching  high  office  through  trickery 
or  personal  appeal.  Now  came  the  presence  of  an  in 
tense  issue  which  smoothed  out  other  differences, 
magnified  a  single  policy, — the  saving  of  the  Union, 
—  and  gave  opportunity  to  a  new  type  of  intense, 
patriotic,  narrow  mind.  Men  of  this  type  dominated 
in  the  reconstruction  days.  As  the  sixties  advanced, 
their  number  was  recruited  by  men  who  had  won 
prominence  and  popularity  on  the  battlefield,  who 
used  military  fame  as  a  step  into  politics,  and  who 
came  into  public  life  with  qualifications  adapted  to 
an  issue  that  was  closed. 

Few  of  the  leaders  of  the  period  1861  to  1876  ever 
grew  into  an  understanding  of  problems  other  than 
those  of  the  Civil  War.  The  most  eminent  of  them 
were  gone  before  the  latter  year.  Lincoln  was  dead  ; 
Grant  had  had  two  terms;  Stevens  was  gone:  Sumner 
had  been  driven  from  party  honor  before  his  death  ; 
Chase  had  died  Chief  Justice,  but  unhappy.  WTith 
these  men  living,  lesser  men  had  remained  obscure. 
As  they  dropped  out,  a  host  of  minor  leaders, 
trained  to  a  disproportionate  view  of  the  war  and 
ignorant  of  other  things,  controlled  affairs. 

About  these  men  the  scandals  of  the  Grant  Admin 
istrations  clustered,  and  their  standards  came  to  be 
those  of  the  Republican  party  organization.  They 


THE  HAYES  ADMINISTRATION       79 

represented  a  dead  issue,  which  they  had  never  di 
rected  when  it  was  alive,  and  were  chosen  by  voters 
whose  choice  had  become  automatic.  In  their  hands 
office  tended  to  become  a  thing  to  be  enjoyed  for  its 
own  sake,  not  a  trust  to  be  fulfilled. 

If  the  Republican  organization  was  drifting  into 
the  control  of  second-rate  men  who  misrepresented 
the  rank  and  file,  the  status  of  the  opposition  was  no 
better.  At  the  South  the  Democratic  party  was  openly  y 
founded  on  force  and  fraud.  In  the  deliberate  judg 
ment  of  the  white  population  of  the  South,  negro 
control  was  intolerable  and  worse  than  any  variety 
of  political  corruption  that  might  be  necessary  to 
prevent  it.  The  leaders  of  the  party  in  this  section 
had  borne  so  important  a  part  in  the  Confederacy 
that  it  was  hopeless  to  think  of  them  for  national 
leaders,  while  they  could  meet  the  Northern  charge  of 
fraud  only  by  the  assertion  of  a  greater  alternate 
evil,  which  their  opponents  would  not  recognize  as 
such.  The  South  could  be  counted  on  for  Demo 
cratic  votes,  but  not  as  yet  for  leaders. 

In  the  North  and  West  the  Democratic  party  was 
still  weakened  by  its  past.  Its  leaders  of  the  early 
sixties,  where  they  had  not  joined  the  Union  party, 
were  Copperheads,  and  were  as  little  available  as  ex- 
Confederates.  One  of  them,  Seymour,  whose  loyalty, 
though  he  was  in  opposition  to  Lincoln,  is  above  ques 
tion,  had  been  nominated  and  defeated  in  1868.  So 
few  had  been  available  in  1872  that  the  party  had 
been  reduced  to  the  indorsement  of  Horace  Greeley. 
Even  the  scandals  of  the  Republican  administration 
could  not  avail  the  Democrats  unless  a  leader  could  be 


80  THE  NEW  NATION 

found  free  from  the  taint  of  treason  and  copperhead- 
ism  and  strong  enough  to  hold  the  party  North  and 
South. 

In  the  paucity  of  leaders  during  Grant's  second 
Administration  the  Democrats  turned  to  New  York 
where  a  reform  governor  was  producing  actual  results 
and  restoring  the  prestige  of  his  party.  Like  other 
Democrats  of  his  day,  Samuel  J.  Tilden  had  few 
events  in  his  life  during  the  sixties  to  which  he  could 
"  point  with  pride "  in  the  certain  assurance  that 
his  fellow  citizens  would  recognize  and  reward  them. 
He  had  been  a  civilian  and  a  lawyer.  He  had  not 
broken  with  his  party  on  its  "war  a  failure"  issue 
in  1864.  He  had  acted  harmoniously  with  Tammany 
Hall  while  it  began  its  scheme  of  plunder,  in  New  York 
City.  But  he  had  turned  upon  that  organization  and 
by  prosecuting  the  Tweed  Ring  had  made  its  real 
nature  clear.  Within  the  party  he  had  led  the  de 
mand  to  turn  the  rascals  out,  and  had  been  elected 
Governor  of  New  York  on  this  record  in  1874.  As 
Governor  he  had  proved  that  public  corruption  was 
non-partisan  and  had  exposed  fraud  among  both  par 
ties  so  effectively  that  he  was  clearly  the  most  avail 
able  candidate  when  the  Democratic  Convention  met 
in  St.  Louis  in  1876. 

The  only  competitors  of  Tilden  for  the  Demo 
cratic  nomination  were  "  favorite  sons."  Thomas  A. 
Hendricks,  a  Greenbacker,  was  offered  by  Indiana 
and  pushed  on  the  supposition  that  this  doubtful 
State  could  not  be  carried  otherwise.  Pennsylvania 
presented  the  hero  of  Gettysburg,  General  W7  infield 
Scott  Hancock,  through  whom  it  was  hoped  to  bring 


THE  HAYES  ADMINISTRATION        81 

to  the  Democratic  ticket  the  aid  of  a  good  war  record. 
The  other  candidates  received  local  and  scattering 
votes,  and  altogether  they  postponed  the  nomination 
for  only  one  ballot.  On  the  first  ballot  Tilden  started 
with  more  than  half  the  votes ;  on  the  second  he  had 
nearly  forty  more  than  the  necessary  two  thirds. 
Hendricks  got  the  Vice-Presidency,  and  the  party 
entered  the  campaign  upon  a  program  of  reform. 

The  Kepublicans  had  completed  their  nominations 
some  weeks  before  the  Democrats  met,  and  having 
no  unquestioned  leader  had  been  forced  to  adjust  the 
claims  of  several  minor  men.  Six  different  men*  re 
ceived  as  many  as  fifty  votes  on  one  ballot  or  another, 
but  only  three  factions  in  the  party  stood  out  clearly. 
The  Administration  group  had  sounded  the  public 
on  a  third  term  for  Grant,  and  receiving  scanty  sup 
port  had  brought  forward  Conkling,  a  shrewd  New 
York  leader,  and  Morton,  war  Governor  of  Indiana. 
The  out-and-out  reformers  were  for  Bristow,  who  had 
made  a  striking  reputation  as  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  over  the  frauds  of  the  Whiskey  Ring.  Between 
the  two  groups  was  the  largest  single  faction,  which 
stood  for  James  G.  Blaine  from  first  to  last. 

The  political  fortunes  of  James  G.  Blaine  prove 
the  difficulty  with  which  a  politician  brought  up  in 
the  Civil  War  period  retained  his  leadership  in  the 
next  era.  Blaine  had  been  a  loyal  and  radical  Re 
publican  through  the  war.  Gifted  with  personal 
charms  of  high  order,  he  had  built  up  a  political  fol 
lowing  which  his  unswerving  orthodoxy  and  his  serv 
ice  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
served  to  widen.  Never  a  rich  man,  he  had  felt 


82  THE  NEW  NATION 

forced  to  add  to  his  salary  by  speculations  and 
earnings  on  the  side.  In  these  he  had  come  into  con 
tact  with  railroad  promoters  and  had  not  seen  the 
line  beyond  which  a  public  man  must  not  go,  even 
in  the  sixties.  His  indiscretions  had  imperiled  his 
reputation  at  the  time  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  scandal. 
They  became  common  property  when  an  old  associ 
ate  forced  him  to  the  defensive  on  the  eve  of  the 
convention  of  1876.  In  the  dramatic  scene  in  the 
House  of  Eepresentatives  when  Elaine  read  the  hu-* 
miliating  "  Mulligan "  letters  that  he  had  written 
years  before,  tried  to  explain  them,  and  denounced 
his  enemies,  he  convinced  his  friends  of  his  innocence, 
and  evidenced  to  all  his  courage  and  assurance.  But 
his  critics,  reading  the  letters  in  detail,  were  con 
firmed  in  their  belief  that  if  his  official  conduct  was 
not  criminal,  it  was  at  least  improper,  and  that  no 
man  with  a  blunted  sense  of  propriety  ought  to  be 
President. 

Despite  all  opposition,  Elaine  might  have  won  the 
nomination  had  not  a  sunstroke  raised  a  question 
as  to  his  physical  availability.  He  led  for  six  ballots 
in  the  convention,  and  only  on  the  seventh  could 
his  opponents  agree  upon  the  favorite  son  of  Ohio, 
General  Rutherford  E.  Hayes,  who  added  to  mili 
tary  distinction  a  good  record  as  Governor  of  his 
State. 

Neither  Hayes  nor  Tilden  represented  a  political 
issue.  Each  had  been  nominated  because  of  availa 
bility,  and  each  party  contained  many  voters  on 
each  side  of  every  question  before  the  public.  Even 
the  appeal  to  loyalty  and  Union,  which  had  worked 


THE  HAYES  ADMINISTRATION        83 

in  three  campaigns,  failed  to  stir  the  States.  Elaine, 
expert  in  the  appeal,  had  revived  it  over  the  propo 
sition  to  extend  pardon  and  amnesty  to  Jefferson 
Davis,  but  his  frantic  efforts,  as  he  waved  the 
"bloody  shirt,"  evoked  no  general  enthusiasm.  The 
war  and  reconstruction  were  over,  but  the  old  par 
ties  had  not  learned  it. 

There  was  doubt  throughout  the  canvass  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  issue,  and  when  the  votes  were 
counted  there  was  equal  doubt  as  to  which  of  the 
candidates  had  been  elected.  Tilden  had  received  a 
popular  plurality  over  Hayes  of  about  250,000 
votes,  but  it  was  not  certain  that  these  carried  with 
them  a  majority  of  the  electoral  college.  Of  the  369 
electoral  votes,  Tilden  and  Hendricks  had,  without 
question,  184 ;  while  Hayes  and  Wheeler  were 
equally  secure  in  166.  The  remaining  19  (Florida, 
Louisiana,  and  South  Carolina)  were  claimed  by 
both  parties,  and  it  appeared  that  both  claims  were 
founded  on  widespread  fraud.  Unless  all  these  19 
votes  could  be  secured,  Hayes  was  defeated,  and  to 
obtain  them  the  Eepublican  party  set  to  work. 

For  weeks  between  the  election  and  the  counting 
of  the  electoral  votes  the  United  States  debated 
angrily  over  the  result.  The  Constitution  required 
that  when  Congress  should  meet  in  joint  session  to 
hear  the  returns,  the  Vice-President  should  preside, 
and  should  open  the  certificates  from  the  several 
States ;  and  that  the  votes  should  then  be  counted. 
It  was  silent  as  to  the  body  which  should  do  the 
counting,  or  should  determine  which  of  two  doubtful 
returns  to  count.  Since  the  outcome  of  the  election 


84  THE  NEW  NATION 

would  turn  upon  the  answer  to  this  question,  it  was 
necessary  to  find  some  solution  before  March  4, 
1877. 

Failing  to  find  in  the  Constitution  a  rule  for  de 
termining  cases  such  as  this,  Congress  made  its  own, 
and  created  an  Electoral  Commission  to  which  the 
doubtful  cases  were  to  be  submitted.  This  body, 
fifteen  in  number,  five  each  from  Senate,  House,  and 
Supreme  Court,  failed,  as  historians  have  since 
failed,  to  convince  the  United  States  that  the  claims 
of  either  Republican  or  Democratic  electors  were 
sound.  Honest  men  still  differ  in  their  beliefs.  The 
members  came  out  of  the  Commission  as  they  went 
in,  firm  in  the  acceptance  of  their  parties'  claims, 
and  since  eight  of  the  fifteen  members  were  Re 
publican,  the  result  was  a  decision  giving  none  of 
the  nineteen  contests  to  Tilden,  and  making  possible 
the  inauguration  of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes. 

There  was  bitter  partisanship  shown  over  the 
contest,  and  the  Democrats,  with  a  real  majority  of 
popular  votes,  maintained  that  they  had  been  robbed 
of  the  Presidency.  Excepting  this,  there  was  no 
issue  that  clearly  separated  the  followers  of  Hayes 
from  those  of  Tilden  when  the  former  took  the  oath 
of  office.  There  was  likewise,  unhappily  for  Hayes, 
no  common  bond  by  which  the  President  could  hold 
his  own  party  together  and  make  a  successful  adminis 
tration. 

Like  three  of  his  predecessors,  John  Adams,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  and  Martin  Van  Buren,  Hayes  was 
carried  into  office  by  the  weight  of  a  well-organized 
machine,  rather  than  by  his  own  hold  upon  the 


THE  HAYES  ADMINISTRATION       85 

people.  Like  all  of  them  he  fought  faction  as  a  con 
sequence,  and  every  new  step  in  administration 
forced  upon  him  increased  his  embarrassment  in  con 
ducting  the  Government.  At  the  start,  he  alienated 
many  Republicans  by  his  policy  toward  the  South. 

Before  the  election  Hayes  had  reached  the  con 
clusion  that  coercion  in  the  South  must  be  aban 
doned.  The  people  must  be  left  in  control  of  their 
own  institutions,  and  if  they  mishandled  them  must 
take  the  consequences.  This  meant  that  the  last  of 
the  States,  in  which  only  the  army  garrisons  had 
kept  the  Republicans  in  office,  must  revert  to  the 
control  of  the  Democrats.  It  also  meant  an  attack 
upon  the  President  by  those  who  still  believed  the 
South  a  menace,  and  those  who  cherished  it  as  a  po 
litical  issue,  —  the  "  sentimentalists  controlled  by 
knaves,"  in  Godkin's  language.  Hayes  acted  upon 
his  conviction  as  soon  as  he  took  office,  withdrew 
the  troops,  and  turned  over  to  the  South  her  own 
problems.  Political  reconstruction,  as  shaped  by  Con 
gress,  had  broken  down  in  every  part,  and  it  re 
mained  to  be  seen  whether  the  constitutional  recon 
struction,  as  embodied  in  the  amendments,  would  be 
more  permanently  effective. 

In  addition  to  taking  their  issue  from  them,  Hayes 
deprived  the  politicians  of  their  plunder.  The  per 
sonal  conduct  of  his  household  added  nothing  to  hi? 
popularity  in  Washington,  for  his  wife  served  no 
wines  and  gave  to  the  White  House  the  atmosphere 
of  the  standard  middle-class  American  family.  His 
official  family  struck  a  blow  at  the  political  use  of 
offices. 


86  THE  NEW  NATION 

Although  many  of  the  Liberal  Eepublicans  of 
1872  were  still  dissatisfied  and  saw  no  prospect  of  a 
change  of  heart  for  their  party,  most  of  them  had 
voted  for  Hayes,  and  one  of  them  was  taken  into  the 
new  Cabinet.  Carl  Schurz  became  Secretary  of  the  ' 
Interior,  bringing  into  office  for  the  first  time  an 
active  desire  to  reform  the  civil  service.  Congress  had 
made  a  timid  experiment  in  civil  service  reform  early 
in  the  seventies,  but  had  soon  wearied  of  it.  Schurz 
announced  that  his  subordinates  would  be  chosen  on 
merit,  and  acted  upon  the  announcement. 

The  storm  broke  at  once  upon  the  Secretary  over 
the  issue  of  the  patronage,  and  soon  reached  the 
President.  The  offices  were  not  only  valued  assets 
of  Senators  and  Representatives,  who  held  control 
over  their  followers  through  them,  but  had  come  to 
be  regarded  as  the  cement  that  held  the  national 
party  organization  together.  In  the  absence  of  an 
issue,  the  binding  force  of  the  offices  had  an  enlarged 
importance.  But  Hayes  generally  backed  up  Schurz 
in  the  fight.  The  Indian  Bureau,  in  particular,  prof 
ited  by  the  new  policy.  Two  serious  outbreaks  had 
recently  occurred  as  the  result  of  bad  administra 
tion.  In  one,  Custer  had  been  led  to  his  destruction ; 
in  the  other  Chief  Joseph  and  the  Nez  Perces  had 
worried  the  regular  army  through  a  long  campaign. 
The  Democratic  House  of  Eepresentatives  had  in  this 
very  period  been  striking  at  the  army  appropriations 
in  order  to  shape  Grant's  Southern  policy.  It  had 
enabled  Nast  to  draw,  in  one  of  his  biting  cartoons,  a 
picture  of  the  savage,  the  Ku-Klux,  and  the  Con 
gressman  shaking  hands  over  a  common  policy. 


THE  HAYES  ADMINISTRATION        87 

Schurz  and  his  Indian  Commissioner  foresaw  the 
changes  needed,  now  that  the  range  Indians  had  all 
been  consolidated  on  reserves,  and  took  this  time  to 
reorganize  the  service. 

Hayes  refused  to  give  over  all  the  offices  as  spoils, 
and  removed  some  officials  for  pernicious  political 
activity.  The  most  important  removal  was  that  of 
Chester  A.  Arthur,  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New 
York,  whose  enraged  friends,  Conkling  among  them, 
became  the  center  of  the  attack  on  the  titular  head 
of  the  party.  Sneering  at  the  sincerity  of  the  new 
policy,  Conkling  cynically  declared  that  "  when  Doc 
tor  Johnson  said  that  patriotism  was  the  last  refuge 
of  a  scoundrel,  he  ignored  the  enormous  possibilities 
of  the  word  reform."  But  because  Hayes  did  not  in 
every  case  follow  an  ideal  that  no  other  President 
had  even  set,  he  lost  the  support  of  the  reformers 
who  soon  denounced  him  nearly  as  fiercely  as  did  the 
"  Stalwarts." 

Even  if  Hayes  had  been  able  to  keep  a  united 
party  behind  him,  his  Administration  could  scarcely 
have  been  marked  by  constructive  legislation.  His 
party  had  lost  control  of  the  House  of  Represent 
atives  in  the  election  of  1874.  The  Forty-fifth  Con 
gress,  chosen  with  Hayes  in  1876,  and  the  Forty- 
sixth,  in  1878,  were  Democratic,  and  delighted  to 
embarrass  the  Administration.  Dissatisfied  Repub 
licans  saw  the  deadlock  and  laid  it  upon  the  shoul 
ders  of  the  President.  The  Democratic  Congress 
checked  Administration  measures,  and  managed  to 
advance  opposition  measures  of  its  own.  Twice 
Hayes  had  to  summon  special  sessions  because  of  the 


88  THE  NEW  NATION 

failure  of  appropriation  bills,  and  in  his  first  winter 
the  opposition  endangered  those  policies  of  finance  to 
which  the  Republican  party  had  become  pledged. 

The  Greenback  agitation,  rising  about  1868  and 
stimulated  by  the  panic  of  1873,  had  not  subsided 
when  Hayes  became  President.  It  had  lost  much  of 
its  force,  but  there  continued  throughout  the  West, 
in  both  parties,  a  spirit  that  encouraged  inflation  of 
every  sort.  In  Congress  there  were  repeated  efforts 
to  repeal  the  Resumption  Act  of  1875,  which  the 
Democratic  platform  had  denounced  the  next  year. 
And  when  a  sudden  increase  in  the  production  of 
silver  reduced  its  price,  a  silver  inflation  movement 
was  placed  beside  the  Greenback  movement. 

The  United  States  had  used  almost  no  silver  coin 
between  1834  and  1862  because  the  coinage  ratio, 
sixteen  to  one,  undervalued  silver  and  made  it  waste 
ful  to  coin  it.  No  specie  was  used  as  currency  be 
tween  1862  and  1879,  and  the  relative  market  prices 
of  bullion  remained  close  to  their  usual  average  until 
the  year  of  panic.  During  the  seventies  the  price  of 
silver  fell  as  new  mines  were  opened  in  the  West. 
The  ratio  rose  above  sixteen  to  one,  and  silver,  from 
being  undervalued  at  that  ratio,  came  to  be  over- 
valued.  It  would  now  have  paid  owners  of  silver 
bullion  to  coin  it  into  dollars  at  the  legal  rate,  but 
Congress  had  in  1873,  after  a  generation  of  disuse 
of  silver,  dropped  the  silver  dollar  from  the  list  of 
standard  coins.  As  silver  fell  in  value,  mine-owners 
asked  for  a  renewal  of  coinage,  and  inflationists  joined 
them,  hoping  for  more  money  of  any  kind.  During 
the  winter  of  1878  a  free  silver  coinage  bill,  passed 


THE  HAYES  ADMINISTRATION       89 

by  the  Democratic  House  under  the  guidance  of 
Kichard  P.  Bland,  of  Missouri,  was  under  consider 
ation  in  the  Republican  Senate. 

John  Sherman,  the  defender  of  gold  resumption, 
was  no  longer  in  the  Senate  to  fight  this  Bland  Act. 
He  had  become  Hayes's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  in  this  capacity  was  working  toward  resumption 
and  upholding  Hayes  in  his  war  on  the  spoilsmen. 
In  his  place,  Allison,  of  Iowa,  forced  an  amendment 
to  the  Bland  Bill,  taking  away  its  free-coinage  char 
acter  and  substituting  a  requirement  to  buy  a  speci 
fied  amount  of  silver  bullion  each  month  —  from 
$2,000,000  to  14,000,000  worth  — and  coin  it.  Thus 
amended,  the  House  concurred  in  the  act,  which 
Hayes  vetoed  in  February,  1878.  It  became  a  law 
over  his  veto. 

The  Administration  was  embarrassed  in  its  finan 
cial  policy,  but  not  defeated.  The  Resumption  Bill 
withstood  attacks  and,  as  the  day  for  the  resumption 
of  specie  payment  approached,  the  price  of  green 
backs  reflected  the  growing  credit  of  the  United 
States.  It  reached  par  two  weeks  before  the  ap 
pointed  day.  When  that  day  arrived,  Wednesday, 
January  1, 1879,  John  Sherman  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  the  change  to  a  coin  basis  effected  without  a 
shock.  More  gold  was  turned  into  the  Treasury  for 
exchange  with  greenbacks  than  greenbacks  for  re 
demption  in  gold.  It  appeared  that  Horace  Greeley 
had  been  right  when  he  had  maintained  that  "  the 
way  to  resume  is  to  resume,"  —  that  few  would  want 
gold  if  they  could  get  it. 

The  adherence  of  Hayes  to  the  gold  standard  and 


90  THE  NEW  NATION 

resumption  drove  from  his  side  another  body  of  Ke- 
publicans.  He  had  now  lost  the  reformers  and  the 
spoilsmen,  the  radical  Republicans  and  the  inflation 
ists,  and  no  one  hoped  or  believed  that  he  would  re 
call  his  pledge  for  a  single  term  and  be  renominated 
in  1880  to  succeed  himself.  The  disintegration  of  y 
his  party  was  as  complete  as  the  collapse  of  its  issues. 
On  no  subject,  between  1876  and  1880,  was  it  possible 
to  bring  before  the  public  a  distinctive  party  issue. 
The  uncertainties  of  the  campaign  of  1876  were  in 
creased  during  the  next  four  years. 

Both  parties  had  ceased  to  represent  either  poli 
cies  or  the  people.  The  office-holders  were  in  no 
sense  the  leaders  of  their  communities.  Industry,  so 
cial  life,  education,  and  religion  had  parted  company 
with  politics  since  the  decline  of  the  Union  issue, 
and  unless  a  new  political  alignment  could  be  found 
there  was  a  prospect  of  continued  rivalry  for  offices 
alone.  Yet  men  were  beginning  to  realize  that  a  new 
period  of  growth  had  begun  during  the  Hayes  Ad 
ministration,  and  that  American  institutions,  formu 
lated  before  the  Civil  War,  had  ceased  to  meet  in 
dustrial  needs. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

J.  F.  Rhodes  terminates  his  great  history  with  the  election 
of  1876,  and  although  he  has  promised  sometime  to  continue 
it,  he  has  as  yet  published  only  a  few  scattered  essays  upon  the 
later  period.  A.  M.  Gibson,  A  Political  Crime  (1885),  is  a  con 
temporary  and  partisan  account  of  the  electoral  contest  ;  P.  L. 
Haworth,  The  Hayes-Tilden  Disputed  Presidential  Election 
(1906),  is  a  recent  work  of  critical  scholarship  ;  E.  Stan  wood 
may  be  relied  upon  for  platforms,  tables  of  votes,  and  other 


THE  HAYES  ADMINISTRATION       91 

formal  details,  in  his  History  of  the  Presidency.  The  Writings 
and  Speeches  of  S.  J.  Tilden  (2  vols.,  ed.  by  J.  Bigelow,  1885) 
are  useful,  as  are  the  Elaine  books:  J.  G.  Elaine,  Twenty  Years 
of  Congress,  E.  Stan  wood,  James  Gillespie  Elaine  (1905,  in 
American  Statesmen  Series) ;  G.  Hamilton  (pseud,  for  M.  A. 
Dodge),  James  G.  Elaine  (1895,  a  domestic  biography)  ;  and 
the  spicy  Letters  of  Mrs.  James  G.  Elaine  (edited  by  H.  S.  B. 
Beale,  2  vols.,  1908).  Other  useful  biographies  or  memoirs 
exist  for  R.  P.  Bland,  Roscoe  Conkling,  Robert  G.  Ingersoll, 
O.  H.  Platt,  T.  C.  Platt,  John  Sherman,  and  Carl  Schurz,etc. 


CHAPTER  VI 

BUSINESS    AND    POLITICS 

A  GREAT  commercial  revival,  affecting  the  whole 
United  States,  began  during  the  Administration  of 
Hayes.  Ingersoll  had  predicted  it,  in  defining  his 
candidate  in  1876,  when  he  declared:  "  The  Republi 
cans  of  the  United  States  demand  a  man  who  knows 
that  prosperity  and  resumption,  when  they  come, 
must  come  together  ;  that  when  they  come,  they  will 
come  hand  in  hand  through  the  golden  harvest-fields ; 
hand  in  hand  by  the  whirling  spindles  and  the  turn 
ing  wheels ;  hand  in  hand  past  the  open  furnace  doors ; 
hand  in  hand  by  the  flaming  forges  ;  hand  in  hand 
by  the  chimneys  filled  with  eager  fire,  greeted  and 
grasped  by  the  countless  sons  of  toil."  In  every  sec 
tion  and  in  every  occupation  commerce  revived  during 
1878  and  1879.  Manufactures  began  to  invade  the 
South ;  mining-booms  gave  new  life  to  the  camps  of 
the  Far  West ;  the  wheat-lands  of  the  Northwest, 
reached  by  the  "Granger"  railroads  and  cultivated 
by  great  power  machines,  produced  a  new  type  of 
bonanza  farming ;  in  the  Southwest  and  on  the 
plains  great  droves  of  cattle  produced  a  new  type  of 
cattle  king ;  and  the  factory  towns  of  the  East  began 
again  to  grow.  Connecting  the  various  sections,  the 
railroads  played  a  new  part,  and  built  more  miles  of 
track  in  the  next  ten  years  than  in  any  decade  before 

19      H.  :-»-  :W^-< 


BUSINESS  AND  POLITICS  93 

or  since.  The  whole  country  awoke  as  from  an  anaes 
thetic,  tested  its  muscles  to  find  that  they  were 
stronger  than  ever,  and  set  to  work  again. 

The  silent  evidence  of  the  United  States  Treasury 
testifies  to  the  prosperity  of  the  next  ten  years.  The 
average  expenditures  of  the  United  States  from  1850 
to  1860  were  under  $60,000,000;  they  ranged  between 
1880  to  1890  from  $244,000,000  to  $297,000,000 
without  exhausting  the  supply.  Yearly,  despite  the 
heavy  drains  upon  it,  a  surplus  accumulated  to  the 
embarrassment  of  the  Government  and  the  demoral 
ization  of  Congress.  The  aggregate  accumulation  for 
ten  years  was  over  $1,000,000,000. 

The  disbursements  of  the  United  States  were 
growing  at  a  higher  rate  than  its  population,  though 
this  was  keeping  up  the  traditions  of  a  new  country. 
From  31,443,321  inhabitants,  with  which  the  na 
tion  faced  the  Civil  War  in  1860,  it  had  grown 
to  38,558,371  in  1870,  and  it  was  now,  in  1880, 
50,155,783.  In  mobility  and  activity  it  had  increased 
even  more  rapidly  than  this,  for  it  was  served  by 
nearly  three  times  as  many  miles  of  railway  (87,000) 
in  1880  as  when  the  war  broke  out.  Along  the  old 
frontier  the  percentage  figures  for  population  and 
railway  mileage  were  highest,  but  everywhere  a  larger 
population  was  moving  more  actively,  and  studying 
itself  more  intently  than  ever  before.  It  was  also 
generating -more  internal  friction  than  ever.  In  the 
silver  mines  at  Leadville  in  1878  had  occurred  one  of 
the  great  forerunners  of  economic  clash.  This  had 
been  preceded  in  1877  by  the  railway  strikes  of 
Pennsylvania  and  the  East.  In  California,  Dennis 


94  THE  NEW  NATION 

Kearney  and  the  Irish  were  driving  the  Chinese  from 
society  in  the  interest  of  "  America  for  Americans." 
The  murders  by  the  "Molly  Maguires"  had  brought 
condign  punishment  upon  the  lawless  in  the  anthra 
cite  region ;  and  throughout  the  East  men  were  vaguely 
conscious  of  a  secret  society  that  called  itself  the 
Knights  of  Labor. 

Complexity,  class  interest,  and  the  problems  at 
once  of  labor  and  of  capital,  thrust  themselves  upon 
a  society  that  had  occupied  its  continent  and  used 
most  of  its  free  land.  The  Centennial  had  revived 
the  study  of  American  history  from  patriotic  reasons. 
An  intense  interest  in  self-analysis  now  kept  this 
alive,  as  Henry  Adams,  James  Schouler,  and  John 
Bach  McMaster  devoted  themselves  to  a  scrutiny  of 
historic  facts,  as  colleges  began  to  create  chairs  of 
American  history,  as  James  Ford  Rhodes  retired  from 
his  office  to  his  study  to  write  the  history  of  his  own 
times.  In  the  next  few  years  associations  for  the 
study  of  political  economy,  political  science,  sociology, 
and  history  multiplied  the  testimonies  to  the  existence 
of  a  new  nation. 

It  was  many  years  before  the  study  of  history  and 
institutions  reached  the  eighties  and  began  to  place 
events  in  their  true  proportion.  Then  it  appeared  that 
there  was  in  fact  a  fundamental  economic  problem 
and  that  the  political  issues  of  the  decade  faced  it 
from  various  angles. 

The  United  States  had  nearly  reached  its  greatest 
capacity  in  production  by  1880,  and  was  no  longer 
able  to  consume  its  output.  Through  its  first  century 
there  had  been  a  rough  plenty  everywhere, — enough 


BUSINESS  AND  POLITICS  95 

food,  enough  work,  and  free  land,  —  so  that  the  in 
dustrious  citizen  need  never  go  hungry,  although  he 
was  rarely  able  to  acquire  great  wealth.  Men  had 
worked  with  their  own  hands  and  with  the  labor  of 
their  beasts  of  burden,  as  men  had  ever  worked. 
Their  land  had  appeared,  indeed,  to  be  the  land  of 
opportunity.  Population  had  doubled  itself  in  a  short 
generation,  and  America  had  called  upon  the  op 
pressed  of  Europe  to  aid  in  reclaiming  the  plains  and 
forests.  With  all  the  labor  and  opportunity,  there 
had  rarely  been  either  an  overproduction  or  a  lack 
of  work. 

The  industrial  revolution  changed  the  nature  of 
American  society  in  many  directions.  Through  an 
improved  system  of  communication,  whose  results 
were  first  visible  between  1857  and  1873,  it  had 
broadened  the  realm  to  be  exploited,  brought  the 
rich  plains  of  the  West  into  agricultural  competition 
with  the  Middle  West  and  the  East,  and  enabled  an 
increased  production  of  staples  by  lessening  freights 
and  widening  the  area  of  choice.  As  the  result  of 
rapid  communication  grain,  cotton,  and  food  animals 
increased  more  rapidly  than  population.  The  use  of 
manures  and  a  more  careful  agriculture  on  the  smaller 
farms  —  and  all  the  farms  were  growing  smaller  — 
further  swelled  the  productivity  of  the  individual 
farmer. 

Machinery  increased  the  capacity  of  the  laborer  as 
transportation  widened  his  choice  of  home.  The  fac 
tories,  as  they  were  reorganized  in  the  new  period  of 
prosperity,  found  that  invention  had  lessened  the  need 
for  labor  and  increased  the  product.  Machine  tools  in 


96  THE  NEW  NATION 

agriculture,  in  iron  and  steel,  in  textiles,  in  shoemak- 
ing,  rendered  the  course  of  manufacture  nearly  auto 
matic,  and  when  steam  neared  its  limit  in  dexterity 
active  minds  could  see  electricity  holding  out  a  new 
promise. 

In  1880  population  and  the  capacity  to  consume 
American  products  were  growing  less  rapidly  than 
the  power  to  produce.  The  United  States  was  finding 
every  year  greater  difficulty  in  selling  all  its  output. 
It  was  possible  to  foresee  the  day  when  overproduc 
tion  might  be  a  menace  unless  there  should  be  some 
reorganization  of  society  to  meet  the  new  problem. 
Pending  the  arrival  of  that  reorganization,  ]3rice£ufeJL 

A  study  of  the  prices  of  standard  commodities 
shows  that  there  was  a  constant,  moderate  decline 
after  the  Civil  War.  During  the  war  nominal  prices, 
expressed  in  depreciated  greenbacks,  rose  far  above 
the  normal,  but  when  corrected  to  a  gold  basis  they 
show  little  change.  At  the  end  of  the  war,  however, 
the  steady  decline  set  in;  by  1880  it  was  perceptible, 
and  by  1890  it  had  come  to  be  generally  admitted. 
It  continued  until  1900,  when  the  larger  production 
of  gold  and  an  extended  use  of  bank  credits  and 
checks,  increased  the  volume  and  mobility  of  cur 
rency  and  started  a  general  rise  in  prices.  Inflation 
ists  believed,  in  the  eighties,  that  the  falling  prices 
were  due  to  an  appreciation  of  gold,  and  demanded 
more  money  because  they  so  believed ;  but  overpro 
duction  appears  to  give  a  better  explanation  of  the 
decline  than  gold  appreciation.  In  the  falling  prices 
may  be  seen  a  proof  of  the  enlarged  production  and  a 
justification  of  serious  study  of  remedial  measures. 


BUSINESS  AND  POLITICS  97 

Solutions,  intended  to  restore  good  prices  and  to 
correct  social  evils,  became  numerous  as  the  eighties 
advanced.  Tariff  reformers  claimed  that  the  tariff 
was  a  vexatious  interference  with  proper  freedom  of 
trade,  without  which  a  foreign  market  for  American 
surplus  could  not  be  obtained.  The  protected  manu 
facturers  retorted  that  only  through  a  higher  tariff 
could  manufactures  be  developed  and  an  enlarged 
consuming  population  of  factory  workers  be  created 
at  home.  A  Western  economist  brushed  both  these 
aside  and  found  the  key  to  the  situation  in  the  disap 
pearance  of  free  land,  and  urged  a  single  tax  upon 
land  as  a  panacea.  United  labor  found  the  cause  to 
be  unrestricted  immigration.  Too  much  government, 
with  its  extravagance  and  corruption,  was  a  cause  in 
the  mind  of  extreme  theoretical  democrats.  Too  little 
government  was  equally  responsible  for  the  discords, 
in  the  eyes  of  growing  groups  of  socialists  and  com 
munists. 

Before  1890  the  United  States  was  involved  in  an 
elaborate  discussion  of  its  troubles  and  their  causes, 
but  in  1880  the  period  had  only  just  begun  and  its 
trend  was  not  clear  to  the  political  leaders  who  were 
yet  quarreling  over  the  spoils  of  office.  Hayes  was 
ending  his  term  in  disfavor,  and  was  passing  into  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  historians,  which  was  much  more 
kindly  disposed  toward  him  than  was  that  of  his  con 
temporaries.  He  had  gone  into  office  without  being 
the  leader  of  his  party  and  without  having  a  single 
definitive  issue.  He  had  alienated  one  faction  after 
another;  while  in  Congress,  in  which  both  houses 
were  never  Republican,  it  was  never  possible  to  pass 


98  THE  NEW  NATION 

constructive  laws.  The  fight  for  the  next  nomination 
began  soon  after  his  inauguration. 

Grant  and  Elaine  were  the  most  probable  candi 
dates  for  the  Republican  nomination  as  the  spring  of 
1880  advanced.  For  the  former  there  was  a  feeling  of 
affection  among  the  senatorial  crowd,  headed  byRos- 
coe  Conkling,  who  had  been  so  severely  disciplined 
by  Hayes.  The  refusal  of  the  President  to  allow  the 
officials  of  the  United  States  to  engage  too  actively 
in  politics  had  brought  about  the  dismissal  of  Arthur 
and  Cornell  from  their  posts,  and  a  prolonged  quarrel 
with  the  Senate.  Hayes  had  won  here,  but  the  de 
feated  leaders  turned  upon  his  Southern  policy,  de 
manded  a  "  strong  "  candidate  who  would  really  keep 
the  South  in  check,  and  called  for  Grant  as  the  only 
strong  man  who  could  lead  his  party.  Grant  was  will 
ing  in  1880  as  he  would  have  been  in  1876.  Upon 
his  return  from  his  trip  around  the  world  his  candi 
dacy  was  pressed  and  had  strong  support  among  Civil 
War  veterans  and  men  who  were  displeased  with 
Hayes. 

Elaine,  too,  was  still  a  candidate,  drawing  his 
strength  from  men  of  the  same  type  as  those  who  stood 
for  Grant.  He  might  have  secured  the  nomination  had 
he  not  been  opposed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
John  Sherman,  whose  friends  thought  his  distin 
guished  service  in  the  cause  of  hard  money  entitled 
him  to  a  reward.  A  special  element  in  Sherman's 
strength  was  a  group  of  pliant  negro  delegates,  from 
the  Southern  wing  of  the  party,  which  was  brought 
to  Chicago  under  close  guard,  fed  and  entertained  in 
a  suite  at  the  Palmer  House,  and  voted  in  a  block  as 


BUSINESS  AND  POLITICS  99 

Sherman's  managers  directed.  None  of  these  three, 
Grant,  Elaine,  and  Sherman,  could  please  the  reform 
element,  that  found  its  choice  in  Senator  George  F. 
Edmunds  of  Vermont. 

The  convention  at  Chicago  was  marked  by  the 
fight  of  Conkling  to  secure  unity  and  the  nomination 
for  Grant,  and  by  the  stubbornness  with  which  the 
opposing  delegates  held  out  against  a  third  term  and 
for  their  own  candidates.  In  the  end  the  deadlock 
was  broken  when  the  followers  of  Elaine  and  Sher 
man  shifted  to  the  latter's  floor  manager,  James  A. 
Garfield,  and  gave  him  the  nomination  on  the  thirty- 
sixth  ballot.  The  Vice-Presidency  was  thrown  to  the 
Conkling  men,  falling  upon  Chester  A.  Arthur,  who 
accepted  it  against  the  desires  of  his  leader.  The  plat 
form  was  a  "  code  of  memories  "  as  it  had  been  in  1876 
and  1872,  congratulating  the  party  on  its  successes 
of  the  past  and  having  no  clear  vision  of  the  future. 

The  Democratic  party  in  1880  was  without  leader 
or  issue,  as  it  had  been  since  1860.  Tilden,  who 
might  have  been  renominated  and  run  on  the  charge 
that  he  was  counted  out  in  1876,  was  sick.  He  was 
unwilling  to  run  unless  the  demand  were  more  spon 
taneous  than  it  appeared  to  be.  In  its  perplexity  the 
party  turned  to  a  military  hero  who  called  himself  a 
Democrat  and  had  been  passed  over  in  1876.  General 
Winfield  Scott  Hancock  had  never  been  in  active 
politics,  but  was  now  nominated  over  a  long  list  of 
local  candidates.  William  H.  English,  of  Indiana, 
who  was  known  to  have  money,  and  was  believed  to 
be  ready  to  use  it  in  the  campaign,  was  the  vice-presi 
dential  candidate. 


100  THE  NEW  NATION 

The  canvass  of  1880  was  fought  during  a  prosper 
ous  summer  on  issues  that  were  largely  personal.  As 
Sherman  said  of  Ohio  in  1879,  so  he  might  have  said 
of  the  country  in  1880,  that "  the  revival  of  industries 
and  peace  and  happiness  was  a  shrewd  political  trick 
of  the  Republicans  to  carry  "  the  United  States.  Fol 
lowing  their  practice  for  three  campaigns,  the  old  line 
speakers  dwelt  upon  the  conditions  in  the  South.  An 
Indiana  rhyme  "  for  young  Democrats  "  ran  :  — 

"  Sing  a  song  of  shotguns, 

Pocket  full  of  knives, 
Four-and-twenty  black  men, 

Running  for  their  lives  ; 
When  the  polls  are  open 

Shut  the  nigger's  mouth, 
Is  n't  that  a  bully  way 

To  make  a  solid  South  ?  " 

But  the  audiences  were  unresponsive.  An  old  politi 
cal  reporter  remembers  being  in  the  national  head 
quarters  late  in  the  campaign,  and  hearing  Elaine,  who 
had  been  stumping  for  Garfield,  say,  "  You  want  to 
fold  up  the  bloody  shirt  and  lay  it  away.  It 's  of  no 
use  to  us.  You  want  to  shift  the  main  issue  to  pro 
tection."  Not  until  the  campaign  was  nearly  over  did 
a  real  issue  emerge. 

The  protective  tariff  had  not  played  a  large  part 
in  any  campaign  since  1860.  In  1868  and  1872  both 
parties  had  looked  forward  to  the  reduction  of  revenue 
to  a  peace  basis,  adopting  mild  planks  to  that  effect. 
In  1876  the  topic  had  been  more  prominent  in  the 
platforms,  but  not  in  the  canvass.  In  1880  Hancock 
was  questioned  on  the  tariff  during  one  of  his  speeches. 
The  question  was  probably  unpremeditated,  but  it  took 


BUSINESS  AND  :PO£ITIGS 

the  candidate  unaware,  for  as  an  officer  in  the  regular 
army  he  had  never  given  the  matter  thought.  His 
evasive  answer,  that  the  tariff  was  a  local  issue  only, 
gave  an  opening  to  his  opponents,  who  forced  the 
tariff  to  a  prominent  place  in  the  few  remaining 
days  before  election.  They  made  much  of  Hancock's 
ignorance,  and  perhaps  by  this  maneuver  offset  the 
disadvantage  done  to  Garfield  by  a  forged  letter, 
which  purported  to  show  him  as  a  friend  of  cheap 
labor  and  Chinese  immigration.  Garfield  and  Arthur 
were  elected  by  a  small  plurality  over  Hancock.  No 
one  received  a  popular  majority,  for  a  third  candidate, 
named  Weaver,  headed  a  Greenback-Labor  ticket  and 
polled  308,000  votes. 

General  James  A.  Garfield  would  have  become 
Senator  from  Ohio  in  1881  had  not  his  election  trans 
ferred  him  to  the  Presidency.  The  fifty  years  of  his 
life  covered  a  career  that  was  typically  American. 
The  son  of  a  New  JEngland  emigrant,  he  was  born  in 
the  Connecticut  Reserve  in  Ohio.  He  worked  his 
way  from  the  farm  through  the  log  school  to  college. 
His  service  on  the  towpath  of  the  Ohio  Canal,  in 
the  course  of  his  education,  became  a  strong  adjunct 
to  his  popularity  among  the  common  people.  He 
taught  Latin  and  Greek  after  leaving  college,  stud 
ied  law,  worked  into  politics,  and  went  to  the  front 
upon  the  call  for  troops.  He  left  the  war  a  major- 
general  to  enter  Congress,  in  1863,  where  he  sat 
until  his  election  to  the  Senate  in  1880.  He  was  the 
friend  of  John  Sherman  and  had  been  the  manager 
of  his  campaign.  Like  his  friend,  and  like  most  Ohio 
Republicans,  he  believed  that  the  tariff  was  one  of 


102  THE  NEW  NATION 

the  bases  of  prosperity  in  his  State.  In  his  campaign 
a  young  Cleveland  merchant  named  Hanna  raised 
funds  among  the  local  manufacturers  on  the  plea 
that  Republican  success  and  their  interests  would  go 
hand  in  hand.  In  his  inaugural  address,  however, 
Garfield  said  nothing  of  the  new  issue  which  was 
threatening  to  enter  politics,  but  dwelt  upon  the  su 
premacy  of  law,  the  status  of  the  South,  hard  money, 
religious  freedom,  and  the  civil  service. 

The  Republican  party  had  been  left  broken  and 
in  hostile  camps  by  President  Hayes ;  Garfield  tried 
in  his  Cabinet  to  change  this  and  "  to  have  a  party 
behind  him."  The  State  Department  went  to  his 
rival  and  ally,  Blame,  whose  personal  following  was 
larger  than  that  of  any  other  American  politician. 
The  independent  Republicans,  who  had  seceded  in 
1872  and  had  muttered  ever  since,  were  pleased  by 
the  elevation  of  Wayne  MacVeagh,  a  Pennsylvania 
lawyer,  to  the  post  of  Attorney-General.  A  friend  of 
Conkling,  who  had  made  a  striking  record  in  the 
New  York  Post-Office  through  two  terms,  Thomas 
L.  James,  became  Postmaster-General.  The  sensi 
bilities  of  the  West,  always  jealous  of  the  East  in 
matters  of  finance,  were  appeased  by  the  selection  of 
William  L.  Windom,  of  Minnesota,  as  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  for  "  any  Eastern  man  would  be  accused 
of  being  an  agent  or  tool  of  the  '  money  kings '  and 
4  gold-bugs '  of  New  York  and  Europe."  The  Cabi 
net  as  a  whole  was  received  with  favor,  but  the  har 
mony  which  its  members  promised  was  soon  disturbed.* 

The  appointment  of  Elaine  as  Secretary  of  State, 
which  Garfield  had  determined  upon  a  few  days  after 


BUSINESS  AND  POLITICS  103 

his  election,  was  a  blow  to  Roscoe  Conkling.  Hayes 
had  struck  at  Conkling  in  removing  Arthur  and 
Cornell.  Now  when  Garfield  decided  to  please  him 
self  in  the  New  York  collectorship,  Conkling  saw  in 
the  act  the  hand  of  Blaine.  He  fell  back  upon  the 
practice  of  senatorial  courtesy,  and  held  up  the  con 
firmation  of  the  appointment.  When  he  found  him 
self  unable  to  coerce  the  President,  he  broke  with 
him  as  he  had  broken  with  Hayes,  and  this  time  he 
and  his  colleague  from  New  York,  Thomas  Collier 
Platt,  resigned  their  seats  and  appealed  to  the  New 
York  Legislature,  then  in  session.  The  move  was  not 
without  promise/  Cornell  was  now  Governor  of  New 
York.  Arthur,  with  the  prestige  of  the  Vice-Presi 
dency,  left  his  chair  in  the  Senate  to  work  for  the 
reelection  and  triumphant  return  of  Conkling  and 
Platt,  on  the  doctrine  that  the  appointments  of  a 
President  must  be  personally  acceptable  to  the  Sen 
ators  from  the  State  concerned.  But  the  New  York 
Legislature  failed  to  give  the  martyrs  their  vindica 
tion,  and  permitted  them  to  remain  in  private  life. 
Their  friends,  the  "  Stalwarts,"  ceased  to  support 
Garfield. 

James,  who  was  not  enough  a  follower  of  Conk 
ling  to  emulate  him,  remained  in  the  Post-Office, 
where  he  had  already  found  wholesale  corruption. 
It  had  been  the  practice  of  the  Post-Office  to  class 
ify  the  mail  routes  according  to  their  method  of 
transportation,  and  to  mark  those  running  by  stage 
or  rider  by  a  star  on  the  general  list.  These  had 
come  to  be  known  as  the  "  star  routes."  The  con 
tracts  for  the  star  routes  were  flexible  in  order  to 


104  THE  NEW  NATION 

meet  the  shifting  needs  of  the  Western  population 
that  lived  away  from  railways  and  depended  upon 
the  stage-coach.  When  the  business  of  any  route  jus 
tified  a  better  service  than  it  was  receiving,  the  De 
partment  was  at  liberty  to  increase  the  service, 
hasten  speed,  and  raise  the  pay  without  a  re-letting 
of  the  contract.  During  the  latter  seventies  the 
growth  of  settlement  throughout  the  remoter  West 
had  justified  a  large  increase  in  star-route  costs,  but 
James  discovered  not  only  legitimate  increase  but 
collusive  fraud.  The  official  in  charge,  in  collusion 
with  former  Congressmen  who  "  knew  the  ropes," 
and  with  the  mail  contractors,  had  awarded  original 
contracts  to  low  bidders  who  had  no  intention  of 
fulfilling  their  bids.  After  the  letting  of  contracts 
the  compensation  had  been  increased  without  investi 
gation  or  reference  to  actual  needs. 

The  unearned  profits  had  been  shared  by  the 
promoters  and  the  dishonest  officials,  and  some  of  it 
had  gone  into  the  Eepublican  campaign  fund.  A 
former  Senator,  Dorsey  by  name,  who  was  indicted 
for  fraud  in  1882,  had  been  Secretary  of  the  Kepub- 
lican  National  Committee  in  1880,  and  had  been 
hurried  to  Indiana  to  save  that  State.  He  did  this  so 
effectively  that  his  friends  gave  him  a  dinner,  which 
Arthur  attended,  and  at  which  the  allusions  to  his 
methods  in  Indiana  were  but  loosely  veiled.  Brady, 
the  official  in  the  Post-Office,  had  collected  the  usual 
assessments  on  federal  office-holders  for  Garfield's 
campaign  fund.  When  he  and  others  were  threat 
ened  with  criminal  prosecution  they  produced  letters 
by  which  they  hoped  to  prove  that  Garfield  was  cog- 


BUSINESS  AND  POLITICS  105 

nizant  of  and  had  approved  their  financial  methods. 
How  far  they  might  have  succeeded  in  blackening 
the  President  and  stopping  his  prosecutions  must 
remain  unknown,  for  he  was  shot  on  July  2,  1881, 
while  on  his  way  to  a  college  celebration,  and  died  on 
September  19. 

The  murderer  of  Garfield  declared  to  the  police 
man  who  arrested  him,  "  I  am  a  Stalwart  and  want 
Arthur  for  President."  It  was  soon  learned  that  he 
was  a  disappointed  candidate  for  office,  and  irrespon 
sible  Washington  gossip  soon  had  it  that  Garfield's 
friends  wanted  him  to  hang,  while  Arthur's  thought 
he  was  only  insane.  The  murderer's  sister,  in  an  inco 
herent  book  based  on  his  story,  asserted,  "  Yes,  the 
'  Star-Route  '  business  killed  Garfield  !  The  claim, 
'The  Stalwarts  are  my  friends,'  hung  Guiteau  !  "  He 
was  perhaps  insane,  and  was  certainly  irresponsible, 
but  his  crime,  coming  simultaneously  with  the  noto 
riety  of  the  star-route  frauds  and  the  demands  of  Conk- 
ling,  emphasized  the  pettiness  of  factions  and  the 
need  for  a  reform  in  the  civil  service. 

The  illness  of  Garfield  dragged  on  through  eleven 
weeks  in  the  summer  of  1881,  with  bulletins  one 
day  up  and  the  next  down.  The  strain  told  on  every 
one  in  the  Administration.  The  prospect  of  Arthur's 
succession  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Vice- 
President  is  rarely  nominated  for  fitness,  but  is 
chosen  at  the  end  of  a  hot  convention,  in  careless 
ness,  or  to  placate  a  losing  side.  It  led  soon  to  the 
passage  of  an  adequate  Presidential  Succession  Act. 
The  death  of  Garfield  threw  the  control  to  the  Re 
publican  faction  that  disliked  him  most. 


106  THE  NEW  NATION 

Elaine,  the  head  of  GarfielcTs  Cabinet,  was  most 
directly  affected  by  the  catastrophe.  He  had  stepped 
from  the  Senate  into  the  State  Department  at  Gar- 
field's  request.  While  he  was  a  receptive  candidate 
for  the  Presidency  this  post  suited  his  needs  and 
gratified  his  taste.  He  loved  business  and  liked  to 
associate  with  men.  He  had  a  diplomatic  vision  that 
led  him  to  formulate  a  more  constructive  policy  than 
most  Secretaries  have  had. 

With  England,  Elaine  found  negotiations  upon 
the  Isthmian  Canal  pending,  having  been  taken  up 
by  Hayes.  His  attitude  in  his  notes  of  1881  failed 
to  meet  the  approval  of  Great  Britain,  and  ignored 
obligations  that  the  United  States  had  long  before 
accepted.  Eut  it  pointed  to  an  American  canal  and 
was  part  of  his  larger  scheme.  His  America  was  in 
clusive  of  both  continents,  and  drew  him  to  hope  for 
larger  trade  relations  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
Writh  the  approval  of  Garfield  he  had  started  to 
mediate  in  South  America,  in  a  destructive  war  be 
tween  Chile  and  Peru.  He  had  on  foot,  when  Gar- 
field  died,  a  scheme  for  a  congress  of  the  American 
States  in  the  interest  of  a  greater  friendliness  among 
them.  The  invitations  for  this  gathering  had  just 
been  issued  when  Arthur  reorganized  his  Cabinet, 
brought  F.  T.  Frelinghuysen  in  as  Secretary  of  State* 
and  let  Elaine  out.  There  was  no  public  office  ready 
for  him  at  this  time,  so  he  retired  to  private  life 
and  the  historical  research  upon  which  his  Twenty 
Years  of  Congress  was  founded.  Jefferson  Davis 
had  just  brought  out  his  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Con 
federate  Government^  while  the  Yorktown  cente- 


BUSINESS  AND  POLITICS  107 

nary,  like  the  centennial  of  independence,  had  stimu 
lated  the  market  for  historical  works. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  United  States  Census  of  1880  is  more  elaborate  and  re 
liable  than  its  predecessor  of  1870,  and  may  be  supplemented 
to  advantage  by  H.  V.  Poor,  Manual  of  the  Railroads  of  the 
United  States  for  1880,  which  contains  a  good  sketch  of  railroad 
construction,  and  by  R.  P.  Porter,  The  West  from  the  Census 
of  1880  (1882).  E.  E.  Sparks,  National  Development  (in  The 
American  Nation,  vol.  23,  1907),  is  a  useful  survey  of  the 
years  1877  to  1885,  and  contains  a  good  bibliographical  chap 
ter.  The  bibliographies  in  C banning,  Hart,  and  Turner's  Guide 
to  the  Study  and  Reading  of  American  History  (1912)  are  speci 
ally  valuable  for  the  years  1876  to  1912.  E.  B.  Andrews,  The 
United  States  in  Our  Own  Time  (1903),  is  discursive  and  enter 
taining.  Special  phases  of  material  development  may  be  reached 
through  D.  R.  Dewey,  Financial  History  of  the  United  States  ; 
T.  V.  Powderly,  Thirty  Years  of  Labor  (1889) ;  H.  George,  Pro 
gress  and  Poverty  (1879  ;  and  often  reprinted),  and  the  Aldrich 
Report  on  Prices  (52d  Congress,  2d  session,  Senate  Report,  No. 
1394).  Many  interesting  details  are  to  be  found  in  W.  C.  Hud 
son,  Random  Recollections  of  an  Old  Political  Reporter  (1911)  ; 
and  J.  F.  Rhodes  has  touched  upon  this  period  in  his  essays, 
among  which  are  "  A  Review  of  President  Hayes's  Adminis 
tration  in  the  Light  of  Thirty  Years"  (Century  Magazine, 
October,  1909)  ;  "The  Railroad  Riots  of  1877"  (Scribner's 
Magazine,  July,  1911)  ;  and  "The  National  Republican  Con 
ventions  of  1880  and  1884  "  (Scribner's  Magazine,  September, 
1911).  Among  the  economic  journals  started  in  the  eighties, 
and  containing  a  wealth  of  scholarly  detail  for  contemporary 
history,  are  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics  and  the  Po 
litical  Science  Quarterly. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    NEW   ISSUES 

GARFIELD  died  before  he  met  his  first  Congress, 
the  Forty-seventh,  which  was  elected  with  him  in 
1880,  but  he  lived  long  enough  to  foresee  the  first 
chance  to  do  party  business  that  had  appeared  since 
1875.  When  Grant  lost  the  lower  house  at  the 
election  of  1874,  the  Democrats  gained  control  of 
that  body  and  Michael  C.  Kerr,  of  Indiana,  sup 
planted  Elaine  as  Speaker.  On  Kerr's  death  in  1876, 
Samuel  J.  Randall,  of  Pennsylvania,  took  the  place, 
and  was  continued  in  it  through  the  next  two 
Congresses,  in  the  latter  of  which,  the  Forty-sixth, 
his  party  controlled  the  Senate  too.  It  had  been 
impossible  to  produce  an  agreement  between  the 
Senate,  the  House,  and  the  President  on  important 
new  matters.  They  could  not  always  agree  even  on 
appropriations,  and  all  Republicans  felt  with  Mrs. 
Elaine  when  she  wrote,  after  the  election  of  1880, 
"  Do  you  take  in  that  the  House  is  Republican,  and 
the  Senate  a  tie,  which  gives  the  casting  vote  to  the 
Republican  V.P.  ?  Oh,  how  good  it  is  to  win  and 
to  be  on  the  strong  side !  " 

When  the  new  Congress  organized,  Randall  ceased 
to  be  Speaker  and  became  leader  of  the  minority, 
while  J.  Warren  Keifer,  of  Ohio,  took  his  place,  with 
a  small  Republican  majority  behind  him.  In  the 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  109 

Senate  the  predictions  of  Mrs.  Elaine  were  fulfilled, 
although  the  accident  which  made  a  President  of 
Arthur  left  the  Senate  without  a  Vice-President.  In 
the  even  division  of  the  Senate,  the  two  independent 
members  controlled  the  whole.  Judge  David  Davis, 
transferred  "  from  the  Supreme  Bench  to  the  Fence," 
became  the  presiding  officer,  and  generally  voted 
with  the  Republicans,  though  elected  as  a  Democrat. 
Mahone,  of  Virginia,  an  Irishman  and  an  ex-Confeder 
ate,  called  himself  a  "  Readjuster,"  and  voted  with 
the  Administration.  These  two  men  made  it  possible 
to  carry  party  measures  through  Congress. 

Shortly  after  Congress  met  in  1881,  Artliur  re 
organized  his  Cabinet,  allowing  the  friends  of  Gar- 
field  to  resign  and  putting  his  own  Stalwart  friends 
in  their  places.  The  new  Secretary  of  State,  Fre- 
linghuysen,  took  up  Elaine's  policies  and  mangled 
them.  He  adhered  to  the  general  view  of  an  Ameri 
can  canal,  as  Elaine  had  done.  He  pushed  the  influ 
ence  of  the  United  States  in  Europe  as  far  as  he 
could,  keeping  Lowell,  in  England,  busy  in  behalf 
of  Irish- Americans  whose  lust  for  Home  Rule  got 
them  into  trouble  with  the  British  police.  But  he 
dropped  the  South  American  policy,  recalled  the  in 
vitations  to  the  Pan-American  Congress,  and  kept 
hands  off  the  Chilean  war.  Elaine  protested  in  vain 
against  this  humiliating  reversal. 

The  decision  of  Arthur  to  take  counsel  from  the 
Stalwarts  aroused  fears  among  others  of  the  party 
that  his  would  be  the  administration  of  a  spoils 
man.  His  first  message,  however,  somewhat  allayed 
these  fears,  for  it  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  unsatis- 


110  THE  NEW  NATION 

factory  status  of  the  civil  service,  and  the  need  for 
a  merit  system  that  should  govern  removals  and  ap 
pointments.  He  promised  his  support  to  measures 
even  more  thoroughgoing  than  the  reformers  had 
asked,  and,  in  January,  1883,  signed  the  "magna 
carta  "  of  civil  service  reform. 

The  use  of  public  offices  for  party  purposes  had 
been  regarded  as  a  scandal  by  independents  of  both 
parties  for  four  administrations.  The  long  list  of 
breaches  of  trust,  revealed  in  the  seventies,  had 
made  reformers  feel  that  incompetence  and  spoils 
endangered  the  life  of  the  nation.  As  late  as  1880, 
they  had  heard  a  delegate  in  the  Republican  Con 
vention,  when  asked  to  vote  for  a  civil  service  plank, 
exclaim  indignantly :  "  Mr.  President,  Texas  has  had 
quite  enough  of  the  civil  service  .  .  .  We  are  not 
here,  sir,  for  the  purpose  of  providing  offices  for  the 
Democracy.  .  .  .  After  we  have  won  the  race,  as  we 
will,  we  will  give  those  who  are  entitled  to  positions 
office.  What  are  we  up  here  for  ? "  And  they  had 
become  used  to  the  silent  or  outspoken  resistance 
to  their  demands  from  men  in  "  practical "  politics. 

The  history  of  the  civil  servants  of  the  United 
States  falls  into  three  periods :  Before  1829, 1829- 
65,  and  1865-83.  In  the  first  period  they  were  com 
monly  treated  as  permanent  officials.  Rarely  had 
they  been  removed  for  partisan  purposes,  although  it 
had  been  the  wail  of  Jefferson  that  "  few  die,  and 
none  resign."  Appointments  had  often  been  given 
as  the  reward  for  past  services,  but  none  had  felt  a 
need  for  a  general  proscription  of  officials  upon  the 
entry  of  a  new  President. 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  111 

Andrew  Jackson  brought  a  new  practice  into  use 
in  1829.  His  election  followed  a  political  revolution, 
in  which  it  was  believed  by  his  supporters  that  the 
National  Kepublican  party  had  become  corrupt.  It 
was  a  matter  of  faith  and  pledge  to  turn  the  incum 
bents  out  of  office.  Hungry  patriots  crowded  round 
the  jobs,  while  Jackson's  advisers  included  men  who 
in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  had  already  learned 
how  to  use  the  offices  as  retainers  for  future  service. 
Advocacy  of  the  Democratic  principle  of  rotation  in 
office  was  in  practice  easily  converted  into  the  main 
tenance  of  the  maxim  that  "  to  the  victors  belong 
the  spoils." 

Every  President  after  Jackson  used  the  offices  for 
partisan  purposes,  and  few  objected  to  the  practice 
on  theoretical  grounds.  The  simplicity  of  the  National 
Government  made  the  habit  less  destructive  than  it 
otherwise  would  have  been.  The  spoils  system  did 
not  enter  the  army  or  navy,  the  only  extensive  tech 
nical  departments  of  the  United  States.  In  other 
branches  of  the  Government  a  large  majority  of  the 
officials  were  unskilled  penmen,  whose  places  could 
easily  be  filled  with  others  as  little  skilled  as  them 
selves.  Always  a  few  clerks  who  knew  the  business 
§were  saved  to  guide  the  recruits,  and  the  depart 
ments  were  generally  working  again  before  a  Presi 
dent  met  his  first  Congress. 

Lincoln  was  not  different  from  his  predecessors  in 
the  use  of  offices.  He  permitted  the  most  complete 
sweep  that  had  yet  been  made,  being  forced  to  an 
unusually  high  percentage  of  new  appointments  by 
the  necessity  of  removing  Southerners.  In  his  hands 


THE  NEW  NATION 

the  patronage  became  an  additional  weapon  for  the 
Union,  upholding  the  leaders  in  Congress,  and  strik 
ing  at  the  backsliders.  In  the  election  of  1864  the 
Union  party  carried  all  the  branches  of  the  Govern 
ment,  and  it  had  a  vision  of  four  years  of  complete 
control  of  the  offices  when  the  death  of  Lincoln 
brought  a  Tennessee  Democrat  into  the  White 
House. 

The  discussion  of  civil  service  reform,  on  theoret 
ical  grounds,  began  about  1865,  when  the  evil  of 
removals  for  party  purposes  was  shown  to  the  Sen 
ate.  Johnson  was  trying  to  use  the  patronage  for  his 
own  ends,  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  radicals  in 
Congress.  Reformers  who  maintained  the  iniquity 
of  this  custom  now  found  temporary  converts  among 
the  Republicans.  They  got  a  committee  appointed 
on  the  civil  service  in  1866,  and  President  Grant 
announced  his  conversion  to  the  principle  early  in 

his  Administration. 

* 

In  1871  Congress  tried  the  experiment  of  a  mod 
est  appropriation  ($ 25,000)  for  a  reform  of  the  civil 
service,  and  Grant  placed  the  test  in  the  hands  of 
George  William  Curtis,  a  leader  of  the  new  reform. 
The  commission  breasted  the  whole  current  of  poli 
tics,  found  that  Grant  would  not  support  it  in  cri4l 
tical  cases,  and  was  abandoned  by  Congress  after  a 
short  trial.  The  demand,  however,  increased,  receiv 
ing  the  support  of  the  independents  who  were  Liberal 
Republicans  in  1872,  and  who  thereafter  constituted 
a  menace  to  party  regularity.  Schurz,  Godkin,  and 
Curtis  were  their  admitted  leaders.  In  1872  and 
1876  they  persuaded  the  great  parties  to  put  gen- 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  113 

eral  pledges  for  civil  service  reform  into  their  plat 
forms.  Schurz,  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under 
Hayes,  put  their  ideal  partly  into  practice.  In  1881 
they  were  a  well-recognized  body  of  advocates,  with 
a  definite  doctrine  of  non-partisan  efficiency,  which 
few  politicians  denied  in  principle  or  liked  in  fact. 

Public  attention  was  focused  upon  the  civil  serv 
ice  by  the  events  of  1881.  The  fight  between  Gar- 
field  and  Conkling  raised  not  only  the  question  of 
the  relative  rights  of  President  and  Senate  in  ap 
pointments,  but  that  of  the  use  of  offices  for  the 
support  of  political  machines.  The  frauds  uncovered 
in  postal  administration  by  the  star-route  investiga 
tions  could  hardly  have  occurred  in  a  department 
administered  by  experienced  and  competent  officials. 
The  murder  of  Garfield  by  a  disappointed  office- 
seeker  gave  additional  emphasis  to  the  need  for  re 
form,  and  these  things  coming  together  made  possi 
ble  the  passage  of  a  civil  service  act  earlier  than  its 
advocates  expected. 

President  Arthur  recommended  the  reform  in 
1881,  and  his  party,  chastened  by  the  fall  election 
of  1882,  took  up  a  law  in  the  session  of  1882-83. 
Eaton,  one  of  the  leading  reformers,  and  first  chair 
man  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  wrote  the  bill 
which  Congress  passed  with  little  real  debate.  Men 
who  hated  the  measure  knew  the  unwisdom  of  oppos 
ing  it.  A  board  of  three  commissioners  was  created 
in  1883  to  classify  the  civil  servants,  prepare  rules 
and  lists,  and  conduct  examinations.  The  classified 
service,  removed  from  politics,  began  with  13,780 
officers  in  1884 ;  by  1896  it  contained  87,044 ;  by 


114  THE  NEW  NATION 

1911,  227,657.  It  grew  most  actively  toward  the 
end  of  each  administration,  as  outgoing  Presidents 
transferred  to  it  the  offices  that  they  had  filled.  Its 
best  recommendation  was  to  be  found  in  the  opposi 
tion  of  politicians  toward  it. 

Arthur  did  better  than  the  reformers  had  hoped 
in  urging  and  administering  the  Civil  Service  Act. 
He  prosecuted  the  star-route  trials,  even  among  his 
Stalwart  friends. 

In  1882  Congress,  with  Arthur's  approval,  took 
up  a  revision  of  the  tariff.  Neither  of  the  great  par 
ties  had,  in  1882,  received  a  clear  mandate  touching 
the  tariff,  although  it  was  true  that  most  Eepublicans 
were  content  with  the  system  in  its  general  outlines, 
while  a  considerable  number  of  Democrats  were  lis 
tening  to  tariff  reform  and  asking  for  a  tariff  for 
revenue  only.  It  had  been  eighteen  years  since  the 
last  general  revision  had  taken  place,  and  in  that 
period  unforeseen  conditions  had  developed,  whose 
tendency  was  at  once  to  point  the  need  for  a  read 
justment  of  schedules  and  to  create  a  class  of  citi 
zens  whose  profits  would  be  touched  thereby.  The 
course  of  financial  reconstruction  between  1865  and 
1875  had  raised  the  rate  of  actual  protection  beyond 
the  expectations  of  its  advocates.  ^ 

In  1865  the  revenues  of  the  United  States,  amount 
ing  to  1322,000,000,  and  far  exceeding  the  needs  of 
the  Treasury  in  time  of  peace,  came  chiefly  from  the 
tariff  and  the  internal  revenue.  The  two  taxes  were 
dependent  upon  each  other.  Each  increase  in  the 
latter  had  forced  an  increase  in  the  former,  lest 
special  burdens  should  be  laid  upon  American  manu- 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  115 

facture.  The  ideal  of  protection  had  never  been  lack 
ing,  nor  had  special  interests  failed  to  look  out  for 
themselves,  but  the  dominant  spirit  in  the  war  taxes 
was  revenue. 

When  Congress  undertook  to  reduce  the  revenue 
to  a  peace  basis,  it  found  that  every  approach  to  the 
tariff  aroused  classes  of  interested  manufacturers, 
while  every  attack  upon  the  internal  revenue  was 
welcomed  by  the  public.  As  a  result,  following  the  line 
of  least  resistance,  most  of  the  internal  taxes  were  re 
moved  by  1870,  leaving  the  tariff  rates  where  they  had 
been,  and  higher  than  any  protectionist  had  asked. 
A  large  part  of  the  tariff  rate  had  been  intended 
to  equalize  the  internal  revenue  tax  ;  the  removal  of 
the  latter  created  to  that  extent  an  incidental  protec 
tion,  which  was  unexpected  but  was  none  the  less  ac 
ceptable.  Some  few  details  of  the  tariff  were  modified 
by  special  acts,  and  there  was  a  flat  reduction  of  ten 
per  cent  in  1872.  But  the  panic  of  1873  reduced 
the  revenues  and  frightened  Congress,  in  1875,  into 
restoring  the  ten  per  cent.  In  1882  the  rates  of  1865 
remained  substantially  unchanged,  leaving  the  pro 
tected  industries  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  incidental 
protection  never  intended  for  them  and  created  only 
by  accident  in  the  general  reduction  of  revenue. 

Spasmodic  attacks  were  made  upon  the  tariff  sys 
tem  throughout  the  seventies,  but  since  few  defended 
it  on  principle  they  failed  to  affect  the  public.  The 
tariff  was  not  a  political  issue.  Opposition  to  it  was 
confined  to  members  of  the  Democratic  party,  in 
search  for  weapons  to  turn  against  the  Republicans, 
and  to  theorists  and  economists  who  had  little  con- 


116  THE  NEW  NATION 

nection  with  politics.  There  were  free-trade  clubs 
after  1868,  though  few  ever  wanted  to  establish  real 
free  trade.  All  that  the  free-trader  commonly  de 
sired  was  a  mitigation  of  protection  and  the  estab 
lishment  of  reasonable  rates.  Godkin,  Schurz,  Sum- 
ner  of  Yale,  David  A.  Wells,  Edward  Atkinson,  and 
Henry  D.  Lloyd  taught  the  tariff -for-revenue  theory 
wherever  they  could  find  listeners.  Wells  wrote  on 
"  The  Creed  of  Free  Trade,"  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly 
in  1875,  and  was  sure  he  had  found  the  issue  of 
1876.  But  in  neither  this  nor  the  next  campaign  did 
the  parties  face  the  issue.  In  1880  the  tariff  figured 
only  as  a  means  of  embarrassing  Hancock,  while 
Garfield  did  not  even  mention  it  in  his  inaugural. 

The  forces  that  compelled  a  revision  of  the  tariff 
in  1882-83  had  to  do  with  revenue  and  expendi 
tures.  Following  the  new  prosperity  the  receipts 
increased  beyond  the  ability  of  Congress  to  spend 
them.  There  was  a  small  surplus  in  1879.  In  1880 
it  was  $68,000,000  ;  in  1881,  $101,000,000 ;  in  1882, 
$145,000,000 ;  in  1883,  $132,000,000.  The  surplus 
was  a  constant  incentive  to  extravagance  and  deranged 
the  currency.  If  it  was  allowed  to  remain  in  the 
Treasury,  its  millions  were  withheld  from  circulation, 
and  contraction  was  the  result ;  if  it  was  applied  to 
the  purchase  or  redemption  of  bonds,  the  national 
bank  currency  was  contracted,  for  this  was  founded 
upon  bonds  owned  by  the  banks ;  and  it  could  not  be 
spent  without  the  invention  of  new  channels.  The 
temptation  to  increase  pension  payments  was  strength 
ened,  while  public  works  multiplied  without  reason. 

The  waste  of  money  on  public  works  induced 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  117 

Arthur  to  advertise  the  need  for  a  reduction  of  the 
revenue.  The  annual  River  and  Harbor  Bill  had  con 
sumed  $3,900,000  in  1870,  and  $8,900,000  in  1880. 
In  1882  the  bill  was  swoUen  to  over  $18,000,000  by 
greed  and  log-rolling.  Arthur  vetoed  it  as  unreason 
able  and  unconstitutional  in  August,  1882.  It  passed 
over  his  veto,  but  the  defeat  of  his  party  in  the  fol 
lowing  November  was  construed  as  a  vindication  of 
the  President.  The  Republicans  lost  control  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  Democratic  governors  were 
elected  in  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania,  in  New 
York,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  and  Indiana,  and 
critics  began  to  ask  if  this  was  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  the  party.  The  certainty  that  party  bills  could 
not  be  passed  in  the  next  Congress,  with  the  control 
divided,  stimulated  the  Republicans  to  act  while  they 
could.  The  Civil  Service  Act  was  passed  early  in 
1883,  and  on  the  same  day  the  House  took  up  the 
consideration  of  a  new  tariff. 

Arthur,  in  1881,  had  urged  that  the  revenues 
be  reduced  and  the  tariff  be  revised,  and  Congress 
had  created  a  commission  to  investigate  the  needed 
changes,  in  May,  1882.  This  committee  was  in 
session  throughout  the  following  summer,  sitting  in 
manufacturing  centers  all  over  the  East  and  hearing 
testimony  from  all  varieties  of  manufacturers.  It  had 
been  organized  on  a  conservative  basis,  containing 
members  familiar  with  the  needs  of  sheep-raisers  and 
wool  manufacturers,  and  iron  and  sugar,  as  well  as 
experts  on  administration.  Its  enemies  thought  that 
it  was  pledged  to  protection  at  the  start.  The  com 
mission  expressed  a  belief  that  the  country  desired 


118  THE  NEW  NATION 

to  adhere  to  the  general  idea  of  protection,  but  it 
early  learned  the  force  of  the  demand  for  revision 
and  reduction,  and  sent  into  the  House,  in  Decem 
ber,  1882,  a  project  for  a  bill  intended  to  reduce 
the  tariff  at  least  twenty  per  cent.  The  bill  based  on 
this  was  reported  from  the  Committee  on  Ways  and 
Means  on  January  16,  1883,  and  was  debated  until 
February  20,  and  then  abandoned  in  the  House  for 
a  bill  which  had  passed  the  Senate. 

The  Senate  Bill  was  in  the  form  of  an  amendment 
to  an  Internal  Revenue  Bill  already  before  that 
house.  It  was  passed  on  February  20  under  the 
leadership  of  the  young  Senator  from  Rhode  Island, 
Nelson  W.  Aldrich,  and  was  sent  to  conference  by 
the  House  a  week  later.  In  conference  a  new  bill 
was  substituted  for  the  Senate  Bill.  This  was  hurried 
through  both  houses  in  time  to  receive  the  signature 
of  Arthur  on  March  3,  1883. 

The  tariff  of  1883  failed  to  meet  the  demand  for 
a  revision.  Its  debates  show  the  difficulties  attendant 
upon  the  construction  of  any  tariff.  Congress  was 
divided  upon  the  theory  of  protection,  both  parties 
including  high  protectionists  as  well  as  tariff-for- 
revenue  men.  The  revenue-producing  side  of  the 
tariff  increased  the  complexities,  since  every  change 
in  a  rate  might  affect  the  standing  of  the  Treasury. 
In  addition  to  the  economic  and  the  fiscal  needs, 
quite  serious  enough,  there  was  the  tireless  influence 
of  the  lobby  of  manufacturers,  pressing  for  single 
rates  which  should  aid  this  business  or  that.  Few 
Congressmen  were  sufficiently  detached  in  interests 
to  be  entirely  dispassionate  as  they  framed  the  sched- 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  119 

ules.  Many  did  not  even  try  to  disguise  their  desire 
to  promote  local  interests.  Neither  party  had  a  man 
date  on  the  tariff  in  1882,  but  when  the  act  had  be 
come  a  law  it  was  clear  that  most  of  the  Republican 
leaders  voted  cheerfully  for  all  the  protection  they 
could  get,  that  the  intent  to  reduce  the  revenue  had 
failed,  and  that  what  little  hope  of  revision  remained 
was  in  the  opposition  party.  "The  kaleidoscope  has 
been  turned  a  hair's  breadth,"  said  the  Nation, 
"and  the  colors  transposed  a  little,  but  the  compo 
nent  parts  are  the  same."  It  was  deliberate  bad 
faith  throughout,  urged  a  Democratic  leader,  and 
"  finished  this  magnificent  shaft  [of  the  tariff  policy] 
which  they  had  been  for  years  erecting,  and  crowned 
it  with  the  last  stone  by  repealing  the  internal  tax  on 
playing  cards  and  putting  a  twenty  per  cent  tax  upon 
the  Bible." 

Throughout  the  tariff  debate  no  argument  had 
been  used  more  steadily  than  that  of  the  protection 
ists  that  protection  to  labor  was  their  aim.  The  de 
gradation  of  "  pauper  labor "  in  Europe  was  con 
trasted  repeatedly  with  that  prosperity  that  was 
typical  of  America.  The  insistence  upon  the  argument 
revealed  the  desire  to  conciliate  a  class  that  was  being 
noticed  in  American  society  for  the  first  time. 

The  great  labor  problem  before  the  Civil  War 
had  been  that  of  getting  enough  laborers  and  meet 
ing  the  competition  which  the  abundant  free  lands 
of  the  West  had  offered.  Labor  organizations  and 
strikes  had  been  so  unusual  that  public  opinion  had 
not  yet  come  to  regard  them  as  normal  features  of 
society.  But  the  manufacturing  development  of  the 


POPULATION  AND   IMMIGRATION,   185O-1910 

(Table  and  Diagram  based  upon  Thirteenth  Census,  1910,  Population, 
Vol.  1,  pp.  129,  130.) 


Total 
Population. 

Foreign 
and  Mixed 
Parentage. 

Foreign  Born. 

1910      . 
1900 
1890      . 
1880 
1870      . 
1860 
1850      . 

91,972,266 
75,994,575 
62,947,714 
50,155,783 
39,818,449 
31,443,321 
23,191,876 

18,897,837 
15,646,017 
11,503,675 
8,274,867 
5,324,268 

13,345,545 
10,213,817 
9,121,867 
6,559,679 
5,493,712 
4,096,753 
2,240,535 

born 


7 


00,000,000 


80,000,000 


70,000,000 


60,000,000 


50,000,000 


40,000,000 


30,000,000 


20,000,000 


10,000,000 


18aO         1860          1870         1880          1890          1900          1910 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  121 

sixties  in  iron  and  steel,  in  textiles,  and  in  other 
machine  industries,  threw  workmen  together  in  in 
creasing  number,  taught  them  their  interests  as  a 
class,  and  set  the  scene  for  an  outbreak  of  strikes 
when  the  shops  shut  down  or  reduced  wages  in  the 
depression  of  the  seventies.  About  1877  these  strikes 
shocked  society  by  their  violence.  Neither  had  the 
public  been  educated  to  the  strike  itself,  nor  the 
labor  leaders  to  that  moderation,  without  which  pub 
lic  sympathy  cannot  be  retained  or  strikes  won.  A 
feeling  adverse  to  organized  labor  swept  the  country 
and  endangered  the  existence  of  the  labor  movement. 

The  Knights  of  Labor  received  the  heaviest  weight 
of  disfavor.  This  was  an  industrial  union,  founded 
in  1869,  embracing  labor  of  all  trades,  and  held  to 
gether  by  a  secret  organization.  Dismissal  so  often 
followed  admitted  membership  in  a  union  that  se 
crecy  was  defensible,  but  secrecy  mystified  and  fright 
ened  the  public.  The  policy  of  secrecy  was  abandoned 
in  1882,  after  the  excesses  of  the  "  Molly  Maguires" 
had  brought  discredit  upon  all  organized  labor. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Grand  Master  Workman 
Powderly  the  Knights  carried  on  an  open  and  ag 
gressive  campaign  of  education  for  labor  and  inspec 
tion  laws  throughout  the  Union.  The  American 
Federation  of  Labor,  founded  in  1881  and  reorgan 
ized  in  1886,  aided  in  this  general  work,  and  with 
the  Knights  helped  to  reconcile  the  public  to  the 
principle  of  unionism. 

State  bureaus  of  labor  appeared  in  many  States 
as  the  result  of  the  general  agitation.  An  eight-hour 
law,  for  federal  employees,  had  been  gained  in  1868, 


THE  NEW  NATION 

while  in  1884  a  Commissioner  of  Labor  was  created 
in  the  Department  of  the  Interior.  Arthur  was  urged 
to  give  the  post  to  Powderly,  but  selected  instead 
an  economist  less  actively  identified  with  the  propa 
ganda,  Carroll  D.  Wright,  under  whose  direction 
the  Bureau  grew  steadily  in  importance.  Its  reports 
became  quarries  for  statistical  information  on  the 
labor  problem,  and  its  success  justified  its  incorpora 
tion  in  the  new  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 
in  1903. 

The  "Army  of  the  Discontented,"  as  Powderly 
called  the  workers,  demanded  education  and  protec 
tive  laws,  and  turned  their  attention  to  competition 
about  1882.  The  cutting  of  wages  by  peasant  labor 
ers,  newly  arrived  in  America,  was  a  grievance  as 
soon  as  labor  became  class-conscious.  Opposition 
to  this  became  virulent  in  the  Far  West,  where  the 
foreigner  was  also  a  Mongolian.  The  Chinese  of  the 
Pacific  Slope,  more  frugal  and  industrious  than 
Americans,  were  harried  in  the  early  eighties,  and 
violence  was  done  them  in  many  quarters.  Garfield 
had  been  weakened  in  1880  by  a  forged  letter  seem 
ing  to  show  that  he  favored  the  introduction  of  more 
Chinese.  So  numerous  were  the  persecutors  that  Con 
gress  responded  to  the  demand  for  a  Chinese  Exclu 
sion  Bill,  in  spite  of  the  Treaty  of  1880,  which 
guaranteed  fair  treatment.  Arthur  vetoed  the  first 
bill,  but  accepted  a  second,  less  stringent  in  its 
terms.  After  this  victory,  the  labor  forces  turned 
upon  immigration  in  general. 

No  idea  had  been  fixed  more  firmly  in  the  Amer 
ican  mind  than  that  the  oppressed  of  Europe  were 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  123 

here  to  find  opportunity.  Immigrants  had  always 
been  welcomed  and  assimilated,  while  Congress  had, 
in  1864,  organized  a  bureau  to  encourage  and  safe 
guard  immigration.  The  influx  always  increased  in 
prosperous,  and  declined  in  adverse,  years.  After 
1878  the  annual  number  broke  all  records.  Western 
railway  corporations  were  inviting  immigrants  to  use 
their  lands,  manufacturers  called  them  to  the  mills, 
and  the  total  rose  from  177,000  in  1879  to  788,000 
in  1882.  This  latter  year  was  the  greatest  of  the 
century,  its  newcomers  attracting  the  attention  of 
the  press,  of  the  city  charities  who  felt  their  grow 
ing  responsibilities,  and  of  the  unions  who  felt  their 
competition.  Nearly  all  the  immigrants  were  pro 
ducers,  a  high  percentage  being  able-bodied  young 
men  and  women.  The  greatest  number  came  from 
Great  Britain,  among  whom  the  Irish  settled  in  the 
Eastern  cities.  Next  were  the  Germans,  who  moved 
toward  Chicago  or  St.  Louis,  while  the  Scandi 
navians  filled  up  the  wheat-lands  of  the  Northwest. 

Under  the  demand  of  the  labor  vote,  Congress 
provided,  in  1882,  for  the  inspection  of  immigrants 
and  the  deportation  of  undesirable  aliens,  and  in 
1885  it  forbade  the  importation  of  skilled  laborers 
under  contract.  As  yet  the  labor  movement  was 
largely  aristocratic,  safeguarding  the  skilled  work 
men,  but  disregarding  the  common  laborers. 

The  labor  and  immigration  movement  in  its  new 
aspect  widened  the  field  for  economic  legislation,  for 
few  States  had  factory  laws,  employers'  liability  laws, 
or  laws  protecting  the  weak,  —  the  women  and  the 
children.  It  also  complicated  the  situation  in  politics. 


124  THE  NEW  NATION 

The  Germans  and  Scandinavians,  settling  in  centers 
which  had  been  strongly  Unionist  in  the  Civil  War, 
were  believed  to  absorb  the  doctrines  of  the  Repub- 
licans  from  their  compatriots  already  in  America. 
The  Irish  were  generally  Democrats,  and  the  only 
Republican  leader  who  had  a  large  following  among 
them  was  Blaine.  He  had  fraternized  with  the  Cali 
fornia  Irish  leader,  Dennis  Kearney ;  as  Secretary 
of  State  he  had  protected  naturalized  Irishmen  who 
went  home  to  fight  for  Home  Rule;  some  of  his 
immediate  family  were  Catholics ;  and  his  insistence 
on  an  American  canal  won  him  friends  who  were 
already  disposed  to  hate  Great  Britain. 

The  votes  of  1876  and  1880  showed  that  the  two 
parties  were  nearly  even  in  strength,  so  that  any 
slight  popularity  or  accident  might  decide  an  elec 
tion.  As  politicians  prepared  for  1884  the  attitude 
of  naturalized  foreigners  assumed  a  new  importance 
which  the  friends  of  the  various  candidates  tried  to 
measure.  The  campaign  could  not  be  fought  on  any 
of  the  old  issues,  but  which  of  the  new  —  civil  serv 
ice,  tariff,  or  labor  —  was  in  doubt. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  best  history  of  civil  service  reform  is  C.  R.  Fish,  The 
Civil  Service  and  the  Patronage  (1905).  This  supplants  all  pre 
vious  accounts,  and  may  itself  be  supplemented  in  detail  by 
the  Annual  Reports  of  the  United  States  Civil  Service  Com 
mission  (1883-  ),  by  the  Memoirs  of  Carl  Schurz  (3  vols., 
1907-08),  the  Writings  of  Carl  Schurz  (7  vols.,  Frederic  Ban 
croft,  ed.,  1912),  the  biographies  of  J.  R.  Lowell,  E.  L.  Godkin, 
and  George  William  Curtis,  and  the  files  of  Harper's  Weekly, 
the  Nation,  and  the  North  American  Revieio.  The  general  nar- 


THE  NEW  ISSUES  125 

rative  of  the  eighties  is  covered  by  E.  E.  Sparks,  National 
Development,  and  D.  R.  Dewey,  National  Problems  (in  The  Amer 
ican  Nation,  vols.  23  and  24,  1907),  and  E.  B.  Andrews,  The 
United  States  in  Our  Own  Time.  A  thoughtful  economic  analysis 
of  the  period  is  D.  A.  Wells,  Recent  Economic  Changes  (1890). 
The  Report  of  the  Tariff  Commission  of  1882  is  valuable  for  the 
study  of  tariff  revision,  as  are  also  the  standard  tariff  histories 
by  E.  Stanwood,  I.  M.  Tarbell,  and  F.  W.  Taussig.  The  An 
nual  Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  (1884-  )  are 
fundamental  for  the  labor  problem.  Useful  monographs  are 
C.  D.  Wright,  An  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  (in 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  vol.  i),  T.  V.  Powderly,  Thirty 
Years  of  Labor  (1889),  G.  E.  McNeill,  The  Labor  Movement 
(1887),  and  M.  A.  Aldrich,  The  American  Federation  of  Labor 
(in  American  Economic  Association,  Economic  Studies,vol.  in). 


CHAPTER  VIII 

GKOVER    CLEVELAND 

THE  Administration  of  Chester  A.  Arthur  proved 
that  the  President  had  never  been  so  discreditable  a 
spoilsman  as  the  reformers  had  believed,  or  else  that 
he  had  changed  his  spots.  The  term  ended  in  dig 
nity  and  Arthur  hoped  to  secure  a  personal  vindica 
tion  through  renomination  by  his  party.  His  struggle 
precipitated  a  contest  of  leaders,  and  until  the  nom 
inations  were  made,  none  could  say  where  either 
party  stood. 

The  independents,  chiefly  of  Republican  anteced 
ents,  hoped  to  retain  what  had  been  gained  in  the 
last  Administration.  They  hoped  to  extend  the  re 
form  in  the  civil  service  and  to  focus  attention  upon 
the  tariff.  The  failure  of  downward  revision  in  1883 
had  strengthened  their  hands  and  increased  their 
hopes.  They  had  dallied  with  bolting  movements 
and  threats  so  long  that  party  regularity  meant  lit 
tle  to  them.  Either  party  could  obtain  their  support 
by  nominating  men  who  could  be  trusted  to  stick  to 
their  platform.  Arthur  was  not  acceptable  to  them, 
and  Blaine  was  anathema. 

The  candidacy  of  Arthur  was  doomed  to  failure. 
He  had  alienated  the  Stalwarts  by  his  independence, 
while  he  had  failed  to  win  the  reformers  because  he 
had  not  invariably  refrained  from  playing  the  poli- 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  127 

tician.  In  the  fall  of  1882  he  had  interfered  in  the 
campaign  in  New  York,  allowing  his  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  Charles  J.  Folger,  while  retaining  that 
office,  to  be  the  Republican  candidate  for  governor. 
This  had  led  to  the  belief  that  the  patronage  was 
being  used  for  local  purposes,  and  had  stirred  up  an 
opposition  to  Folger  which  defeated  him.  Arthur's 
veto  of  the  Chinese  Exclusion  Bill  and  the  River  and 
Harbor  Bill  further  increased  his  unpopularity  in 
various  sections.  He  failed  to  win  over  the  Blaine 
faction,  who  regarded  him  as  an  intrusive  accident 
and  waited  impatiently  for  the  next  national  conven 
tion. 

Blaine  was  the  leader  of  the  Republican  party  in 
1884,  so  far  as  it  had  a  leader,  and  he  possessed  all 
the  weaknesses  of  such  a  leader  as  well  as  personal 
weaknesses  of  his  own.  Rarely  has  it  been  possible 
to  nominate  or  to  elect  one  who  has  gained  a  domin 
ant  place  through  party  struggles.  Such  men,  Clay, 
Webster,  Calhoun,  and  their  kind,  have  commonly 
created  enough  enemies,  as  they  have  risen,  to  make 
them  unavailable  as  leaders  of  a  national  ticket. 
Blaine  was  handicapped  like  these.  His  prolonged 
fight  against  Conkling  and  the  Stalwarts  created  a 
breach  too  deep  to  fill,  while  the  old  questions  re 
specting  his  honor  would  not  down. 

Early  in  1884  Blaine  was  the  leading  candidate 
for  the  nomination  in  spite  of  all  opposition.  The 
Republican  National  Committee  was  in  charge  of 
men  who  sympathized  with  him.  Dorsey  had  re 
signed  as  its  secretary  after  the  star-route  exposure, 
though  his  associate  in  land  speculations,  Stephen 


128  THE  NEW  NATION 

B.  Elkins,  remained  as  one  of  the  managers.  The 
control  was  in  the  hands  of  men  who  had  close  affi 
liation  with  the  old  organization,  and  of  the  manu 
facturers  who  had  blocked  tariff  revision  in  1883. 
It  was  improbable,  in  the  opinion  of  many  inde 
pendents,  that  a  tariff  reduction  could  be  got  from 
an  Administration  headed  by  Elaine  ;  they  ques 
tioned  his  sincerity  upon  civil  service  reform ;  and 
they  thought  it  not  right  that  any  man,  concerning 
whose  character  there  was  a  doubt,  should  be  Presi 
dent.  They  put  forward,  within  the  party,  Senator 
George  F.  Edmunds,  whom  they  had  desired  in  1880, 
and  who  had  since  become  President  of  the  Senate. 
Other  candidates  with  local  followings  were  General 
John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois,  John  Sherman,  and  the 
President  himself. 

The  Chicago  Convention  of  the  Republican  party, 
meeting  early  in  June,  was  the  scene  of  a  battle  be 
tween  the  two  elements  in  the  party.  At  the  outset, 
the  old  independents,  headed  by  Curtis,  and  rein 
forced  by  younger  men  like  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  Theodore  Roosevelt,  of  New 
York,  broke  the  slate  of  the  National  Committee  and 
seated  a  chairman  of  their  own  choice.  But  the 
regulars  rallied,  controlled  the  platform,  and  made 
the  nomination.  Blaine  and  John  A.  Logan  were 
selected,  the  former  accepting  the  honor  with  secret 
misgivings,  for  he  had  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
intensity  of  the  opposition  within  the  party.  The 
reformers  went  home  discouraged,  many  of  them 
determined  not  to  let  party  regularity  hold  them  to 
Blaine. 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  129 

Out  of  the  nomination  of  Elaine  grew  the  "  Mug 
wump  "  movement,  whose  influence  was  greater  than 
that  of  the  last  bolt.  The  origin  of  the  name  "  Mug 
wump  "  is  not  entirely  clear,  but  it  was  well  known 
as  an  opprobrious  epithet,  and  was  applied  now  by 
party  regulars  to  the  "  holier-than-thou  "  reformers. 
One  of  the  regulars  later  quoted  Kevelation  at  them  : 
"  Thou  art  neither  hot  nor  cold  ...  so,  then,  I  will 
spew  thee  out  of  my  mouth."  They  were  more  offen 
sive  to  Republicans  than  were  the  Democrats,  while 
the  latter  were  bewildered  but  cynical.  "  I  know  that 
to-day  we  are  living  in  a  very  highly  scented  atmos 
phere  of  political  reform,"  said  one  of  the  Demo 
cratic  Senators  a  little  later,  u  I  know  that  under 
the  saintly  leadership  of  the  JEatonian  school  of 
political  philosophers  we  are  all  ceasing  to  be  parti 
sans,  that  we  no  longer  recognize  party  obligations, 
party  duty,  party  discipline,  and  party  devoirs ; 
that  we  are  all  to  become  reconciled  to  a  life  of 
political  monasticism ;  but  I  will  continue  to  have 
one  failing,  and  that  is  in  my  humble  way  to  be  as 
watchful  and  as  vigilant  of  the  purposes,  designs, 
and  craft  of  the  Republican  leaders  as  I  have  en 
deavored  to  be  in  the  past." 

The  Mugwumps  left  Chicago  and  at  once  opened 
negotiations  with  the  Democratic  leaders.  The  Na 
tion  and  the  Evening  Post  were  already  with  them. 
Harper's  Weekly,  which  had  been  a  Union  journal 
in  the  war,  and  Republican  ever  since,  abandoned 
the  party  ticket.  George  William  Curtis,  its  editor, 
led  in  the  revolt,  and  the  Mugwumps  met  at  the 
house  of  one  of  the  Harpers  for  organization,  on 


130  THE  NEW  NATION 

June  17,  1884.  Their  problem  was  whether  to  nom 
inate  an  independent  ticket  and  be  defeated,  or  to 
support  and  help  elect  a  Democratic  President,  in 
case  the  Democrats  should  be  willing  to  cooperate 
with  them. 

Not  all  the  reformers  turned  from  Blaine.  White- 
law  Reid,  the  successor  of  Horace  Greeley  on  the 
New  York  Tribune,  remained  regular.  Lodge  went 
back  to  Massachusetts  and  persuaded  himself  to 
take  part  in  the  canvass.  Roosevelt,  discouraged  by 
the  nomination  of  Blaine,  remained  regular,  but 
stepped  out  of  the  campaign  and  began  his  ranch 
life  in  the  Far  West.  With  him,  as  with  many 
others,  it  was  a  matter  of  conviction  that  reform, 
to  be  effective,  must  be  urged  within  the  party. 
But  enough  of  the  reformers  went  with  the  Mug 
wumps  to  lessen  Blaine's  chances  of  election. 

When  the  Mugwumps  made  overtures  for  fusion 
to  the  Democratic  leaders,  they  had  in  mind  as  a 
candidate  a  young  Democratic  lawyer  who  had  ap 
peared  as  Mayor  of  Buffalo  in  1881  and  had  been 
elected  as  reform  Governor  of  New  York  in  1882. 
He  had  secured  the  aid  of  independent  reformers  in 
that  campaign,  —  men  who  resented  the  candidacy 
of  Folger  and  the  intrusion  of  the  National  Admin 
istration  in  local  politics.  As  governor  he  had  speed 
ily  established  his  reputation  for  stubborn  honesty 
and  independent  judgment.  Grover  Cleveland  had 
become,  like  Tilden,  the  most  promising  candidate 
in  a  party  that  had  no  admitted  leader. 

The  opposition  from  two  elements  in  his  party,  at 
the  Democratic  Convention  in  Chicago,  strengthened 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  131 

Cleveland  as  the  candidate  of  reform.  Ben  Butler,  who 
had  himself  been  nominated  for  the  Presidency  by  an 
Anti-Monopoly  Convention,  denounced  him  as  a  foe 
of  labor ;  and  such  was  Butler's  reputation  that  his 
enmity  was  one  of  Cleveland's  assets.  John  Kelly, 
the  chief  of  Tammany  Hall,  opposed  him,  too,  having 
learned  to  know  him  as  Governor  of  New  York. 
Well  might  Cleveland's  friends  say,  "  We  love  him 
for  the  enemies  he  has  made."  They  nominated  him 
on  the  second  ballot,  selecting  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks,  of  Indiana,  to  run  with  him.  Their  platform 
was  full  of  reform,  even  of  the  tariff,  but  on  the 
latter  subject  it  was  less  specific  than  the  tariff 
reformers  had  hoped. 

As  the  parties  stood  in  1884,  personal  character 
meant  more  than  platform  or  party  name.  Cleveland 
possessed  qualities  that  made  his  appeal  to  independ 
ents  quite  as  strong  as  it  was  to  Democrats.  With 
older  brothers  in  the  army  he  had  supported  his 
mother  during  the  war,  and  had  kept  clear  of  copper- 
headism.  He  stood  for  sound  money ;  he  believed  in 
a  tariff  for  revenue ;  he  had  proved  his  devotion  to 
civil  service  reform ;  he  lacked  the  factional  enemies 
who  weakened  the  candidacy  of  a  prominent  leader 
like  Blaine ;  and  his  peculiar  appeal  to  Kepublican 
dissenters  led  the  canvass  away  from  issues  into  the 
field  of  personalities. 

The  charge  of  the  independents  upon  Blaine's  per 
sonal  honor  caused  the  Republican  schism  and  drove 
the  party  regulars  into  a  retort  in  kind.  The  private 
life  of  the  candidates  was  uncovered  to  the  annoy 
ance  of  both  and  to  the  greater  embarrassment 


132  THE  NEW  NATION 

of  Cleveland.  Nothing  discreditable  to  his  honesty 
could  be  found,  but  an  apparent  lapse  in  his  private 
conduct  gave  the  pretext  for  wild  and  dishonest  at 
tacks  upon  his  character.  A  few  years  later  the  nov 
elist,  Paul  Leicester  Ford,  in  a  keen  study  of  New 
York  politics  entitled  The  Honorable  Peter  Stirling, 
portrayed  a  situation  somewhat  resembling  that 
of  Cleveland,  though  disclaiming  Cleveland  as  his 
model.  The  Boston  Journal  led  in  the  exploitation 
of  the  charges,  and  partisans  forgot  decency  on  both 
sides.  Nast,  having  formerly  cartooned  Elaine  in  the 
"  Bloody  Shirt,"  now  turned  to  "  A  Roaring  Farce 
—  The  Plumed  Knight  in  a  Clean  Shirt,"  while 
others  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  admirer  who 
coined  the  "plumed  knight"  epithet  had  been  coun 
sel  for  the  fraudulent  star-route  contractors. 

Attempts  were  made  to  appeal  to  class  hatred  on 
both  sides.  Butler  had  hesitated  for  several  weeks 
in  his  acceptance  of  the  nomination  by  the  Anti- 
Monopoly  Convention.  Greenbackers  and  a  few  labor 
leaders  made  up  his  following,  and  it  was  supposed 
that  they  would  draw  votes  from  the  Democrats. 
After  conference  with  Republican  leaders,  Butler 
agreed  to  run,  and  it  was  freely  charged  that  these 
leaders  financed  his  campaign  to  injure  Cleveland. 
Republicans  appealed  to  the  Irish  vote  by  recalling 
Blame's  vigorous  diplomacy  against  Great  Britain; 
their  opponents  caricatured  Blaine  by  representing 
him  as  consorting  with  Irish  thugs  and  dynamiters. 
At  the  very  end  of  the  canvass  a  chance  remark  may 
have  decided  the  result. 

So  much  had  been  said  of  character  in  the  cam- 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  133 

paign  that  both  candidates  brought  out  the  clergy 
to  give  them  certificates  of  excellence.  In  October  a 
meeting  of  clergymen  of  all  denominations  was  held 
at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  to  greet  Blaine.  The  old 
est  minister,  Burchard  by  name,  was  asked  to  deliver 
the  address,  and  while  he  spoke  Blaine  thought  of 
other  matters.  He  thus  missed  a  phrase  which  other 
hearers  caught  and  which  the  Democrats  immedi 
ately  advertised.  It  denounced  the  Democrats  as  ad 
herents  of  "rum,  Romanism,  and  rebellion,"  and 
was  reported  as  conveying  a  gratuitous  insult  to  the 
Irish  vote.  How  many  Irish  turned  from  Blaine  to 
Cleveland  in  the  last  week  of  the  campaign  cannot 
be  said,  but  the  election  was  so  close  that  a  few  votes, 
swung  either  way,  could  have  determined  it.  Cleve 
land  carried  New  York  and  won  a  majority  of  the 
electoral  college,  but  his  popular  plurality  over  Blaine 
was.  only  23,000,  while  he  had  some  300,000  fewer 
than  his  combined  rivals.  Butler  drew  175,000  votes 
without  defeating  Cleveland.  Purists,  disgusted  with 
the  personalities  of  the  campaign,  swelled  the  Pro 
hibition  vote  to  150,000. 

On  March  4,  1885,  Grover  Cleveland  was  inau 
gurated  as  the  first  Democrat  elected  President 
since  James  Buchanan.  His  Cabinet  was  necessarily 
filled  with  men  inexperienced  in  national  adminis 
tration,  for  the  party  had  been  proscribed  for  six 
terms.  The  greatest  attention  was  attracted  by  the 
two  former  Confederates,  Garland  and  Lamar,  whose 
career  did  much  to  disprove  the  "  gloomy  and  base 
less  superstition  "  of  twenty  years,  "  that  one  half  of 
the  nation  had  become  the  irreconcilable  enemies 


134  THE  NEW  NATION 

of  the  national  unity  and  the  national  will."  It  was 
an  American  Administration,  and  of  its  chief,  James 
Russell  Lowell,  who  had  known  men  in  many  lands, 
wrote,  "  He  is  a  truly  American  type  of  the  best 
kind  —  a  type  very  dear  to  me,  I  confess." 

The  State  Department  was  entrusted  to  Thomas 
F.  Bayard,  who  had  been  a  competitor  for  the  nom 
ination  in  1884,  and  who  sustained  the  tradition  that 
only  first-rate  men  shall  fill  this  office.  Bayard  pro 
ceeded  at  once  to  undo  the  work  of  the  last  five 
years  and  to  reverse  a  policy  of  Blaine.  A  treaty 
with  Nicaragua,  negotiated  by  Frelinghuysen  in  De 
cember,  1884,  ran  counter  to  the  English  treaty  of 
1850.  After  a  vain  attempt  to  persuade  Great  Britain 
to  abandon  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  respecting 
an  isthmian  canal,  Frelinghuysen  had  disregarded  it 
and  acquired  a  complete  right-of-way  from  Nicaragua. 
This  was  pending  in  the  Senate  when  Cleveland  was 
inaugurated,  and  was  withdrawn  at  once.  The  United 
States  reverted  to  the  old  Whig  policy  of  a  neutral 
ized  canal. 

In  all  departments  the  new  Administration  was 
forced  to  test  the  strength  of  its  convictions  upon 
civil  service  reform.  During  its  long  years  of  oppo 
sition  the  party  had  often  voiced  a  demand  for  re 
form,  but  now  in  office  its  workers  demanded  the 
usual  rewards  of  success.  Cleveland  had  fought  the 
spoils  politicians  in  New  York,  and  had  taken  counsel 
of  Carl  Schurz  after  his  election  as  President.  In  the 
next  four  years  he  nearly  doubled  the  number  in 
the  classified  service  in  the  face  of  opposition  from 
his  most  intimate  associates. 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  135 

The  problems  of  prosperity  and  national  growth, 
developing  in  the  eighties  and  culminating  between 
1885  and  1889,  involved  administrative  efficiency 
rather  than  party  policy.  On  every  side  the  Govern 
ment  was  forced  to  expand  its  activities,  and  Cleve 
land  was  occupied  in  getting  new  machinery  into 
operation  and  meeting  conditions  for  which  no  pre 
cedents  existed. 

Organized  labor  had  gained  concessions  from  Con 
gress  in  a  Bureau  of  Labor,  in  1884,  and  an  Anti- 
Contract  Labor  Law  in  1885.  These  called  for  sym 
pathetic  administration  and  encouraged  labor  to  hope 
for  more.  During  1886  and  1887  the  views  of  labor 
leaders  attracted  much  attention  because  of  a  series 
of  strikes  and  riots.  In  the  greatest  of  these  the 
local  chapters  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  fought  against 
the  Gould  railways  of  the  Southwest  —  the  Missouri 
Pacific  and  the  Texas  Pacific.  The  strike  originated 
in  March,  1886,  in  sympathy  with  labor  organizers 
who  had  been  discharged  by  the  railroad.  Under  the 
leadership  of  Martin  Irons  it  spread  over  the  South 
west,  causing  distress  in  those  regions  which  were 
dependent  upon  the  railroad  for  fuel  and  food  and 
causing  disorder  in  the  towns  where  the  idle  work 
men  congregated.  Powderly  and  the  other  chief 
officials  of  the  Knights  tried  to  stop  the  strike,  but 
were  ineffective,  while  the  railroad  managers  shaped 
events  so  as  to  divert  the  sympathies  of  the  Western 
people  against  the  strikers.  The  Knights  never  re 
covered  from  the  blow  which  the  loss  of  the  strike 
inflicted  upon  them. 

In,  May,  1886,  a  general  demonstration  in  favor 


136  THE  NEW  NATION 

of  the  eight-hour  day  was  planned  and  carried  out. 
In  Milwaukee  riots  ensued,  the  militia  was  called 
out  by  Governor  Rusk,  and  a  volley  was  fired  into 
the  mob.  In  Chicago  the  union  movement  was  com 
bined  with  anarchy  and  socialism,  and  opponents  of 
all  did  not  discriminate  among  them.  A  meeting  of 
the  anarchists  was  broken  up  by  the  police,  several 
of  whom  were  killed  by  the  explosion  of  a  bomb 
thrown  in  the  tumult.  In  1887  a  group  of  the  an 
archist  leaders  were  hanged,  having  been  convicted 
of  what  may  be  called  constructive  conspiracy.  The 
unrest  revealed  by  the  strikes  and  riots  showed  that 
the  old  period  of  uniform  well-being  and  satisfaction 
was  over. 

The  demands  made  upon  politics  by  organized 
labor  were  exceeded  by  the  demands  of  organized 
patriotism.  The  veterans  of  the  Civil  War,  who 
were  in  early  manhood  in  1865,  were  now  in  middle 
life,  were  possessed  of  political  influence,  and  turned 
to  the  National  Government  for  personal  advantage. 
Advocates  of  protection  acted  upon  the  theory  that 
for  national  purposes  special  advantages  ought  to  be 
given  to  manufacturers.  The  same  idea  of  govern 
ment  readily  bestowed  these  advantages  in  return 
for  a  past  service. 

The  machinery  of  the  veterans  was  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  which,  from  being  an  unim 
portant,  reminiscent  league,  had  grown  to  be  an  in 
strument  for  the  procuring  of  pensions.  The  surplus 
tempted  citizens  to  make  demands  upon  it ;  the  num 
ber  of  soldier  votes  encouraged  politicians  to  comply 
with  the  demands.  In  1879  the  movement  began 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  137 

with  an  Arrears  of  Pensions  Act,  by  which  pension 
ers  were  entitled  to  back  pay  from  their  mustering- 
out  dates,  regardless  of  the  period  at  which  their  in 
capacity  set  in.  The  next  step  involved  the  issuing  of 
pensions  for  incapacity  and  dependence,  regardless  of 
their  cause,  and  opened  the  way  for  pensions  for  serv 
ice  only.  In  1887  Cleveland  vetoed  a  pension  bill  of 
this  character,  and  prevented  its  passage  until  the  term 
of  his  successor,  in  1890.  He  had  already  offended 
many  of  his  supporters  by  guarding  the  offices;  his 
pension  veto  offended  more  by  checking  the  attack 
of  the  old  soldiers  on  the  Treasury.  No  one  opposed 
the  granting  of  pensions  to  soldiers  who  had  been 
injured  in  the  Civil  War,  but  the  demands  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Grand  Army,  supported  by  the  inter 
ests  of  hundreds  of  attorneys  who  lived  on  pension 
claims,  now  assumed  the  appearance  of  an  organized 
raid  on  the  Treasury.  The  general  laws  were  sup 
plemented  by  special  private  pension  laws,  of  which 
1871  were  sent  to  Cleveland  in  four  years.  He 
vetoed  228  of  these,  often  to  his  political  injury.  In 
many  cases  these  made  allowances  to  persons  whose 
claims  had  been  rejected  by  the  Pension  Bureau  as 
inadequate  or  fraudulent.  In  the  course  of  time 
Cleveland  became  "  thoroughly  tired  of  disapprov 
ing  gifts  of  public  money  to  individuals  who  in  my 
view  have  no  right  or  claim  to  the  same."  The  pen 
sion  fund,  he  maintained,  was  "  the  soldiers'  fund," 
and  should  be  distributed  so  as  to  "  exclude  perver 
sion  as  well  as  to  insure  a  liberal  and  generous  ap 
plication  of  grateful  and  benevolent  designs."  In 
the  ten  years  ending  in  1889,  Congress  spent 


138  THE  NEW  NATION 


1, 000, 000  on  pensions;  in  the  next  ten  it  spent 
$1,350,000,000. 

The  surplus  incited  extravagance,  and  its  reduc 
tion  had  been  demanded  on  this  ground,  the  tariff 
appearing  to  afford  the  best  method  of  reduction. 
When  the  Democratic  party  gained  control  of  the 
House,  in  1883,  it  proceeded  at  once  to  discuss  re 
vision,  and  promptly  uncovered  a  difference  of  opin 
ion  among  its  members.  The  last  Democratic  Speaker 
of  the  House  had  been  Samuel  J.  Randall,  of  Penn 
sylvania,  a  Democrat  who  had  been  trained  in  the 
philosophy  of  Henry  Clay  and  in  the  interests  of  a 
great  manufacturing  State.  He  was  by  conviction 
and  association  a  protectionist,  and  was  a  candidate 
for  his  party's  nomination  as  Speaker  in  the  Forty- 
eighth  Congress,  which  met  in  December,  1883. 
From  this  date  he  ceased  to  lead  his  party  in  the 
House  and  became  the  leader  of  an  internal  faction. 
John  G.  Carlisle,  of  Kentucky,  supplanted  him,  was 
elected  Speaker,  and  organized  the  House  in  the  in 
terest  of  a  tariff  for  revenue  only.  For  the  next  six 
years  the  Democratic  organization  of  the  House  was 
pledged  to  revision,  but  operated  in  the  face  of  a 
growing  Republican  opposition,  and  with  Randall 
and  the  protectionist  Democrats  attacking  from  the 
rear. 

The  election  of  Cleveland  gave  the  Democrats 
control  of  two  branches  of  the  Government,  but  left 
the  Senate  in  the  hands  of  the  Republicans.  It  was 
vain  to  talk  of  serious  revision  or  any  other  party 
measure  in  a  divided  administration,  yet  the  Presi 
dent  chafed  under  his  inability  to  fulfill  party  pledges. 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  139 

The  surplus  continued  to  accumulate,  to  permit  ex 
travagance  in  Congress,  and  to  arouse  the  cupidity 
of  citizens.  In  his  message  to  his  second  Congress, 
in  1887,  Cleveland  startled  the  country  by  devoting 
his  undivided  attention  to  this  single  topic.  He  set 
his  party  a  text  which  could  not  be  evaded,  although 
there  was  even  yet  no  reason  to  believe  that  a  tariff 
bill  could  pass  both  houses.  He  had  taken  Carlisle 
into  his  confidence  before  sending  the  message ;  the 
latter  entrusted  the  leadership  in  revision  to  Roger 
Q.  Mills,  of  Texas,  a  free-trader,  whom  he  appointed 
as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means. 
With  the  opening  of  the  debate  on  the  Mills  Bill, 
in  April,  1888,  there  began  "  the  first  serious  attempt 
since  the  war  to  reduce  toward  a  peace  basis  the 
customs  duties  imposed  during  that  conflict  almost 
solely  for  purposes  of  revenue."  Mills  and  William 
L.  Wilson,  who  had  been  a  college  president  in 
West  Virginia,  bore  the  burden  of  advocacy  of  a 
reduction  of  the  revenue  to  the  extent  of  §50,000,000. 
They  were  opposed  by  a  united  Republican  party, 
both  frightened  and  gratified  because  the  issue  had 
been  made  so  clear.  It  was  charged  that  the  Com 
mittee  on  Ways  and  Means  had  drawn  up  the  bill 
in  secrecy,  and  that  a  majority  of  its  Democratic 
members  were  Southerners  who  knew  nothing  of  the 
needs  of  manufactures.  The  danger  to  American 
labor  from  the  competition  of  the  pauper  labor  of 
Europe  was  urged  against  it.  It  was  asserted  to  be 
a  pro-British  measure,  and  stories  were  circulated  of 
British  gold,  coming  from  the  Cobden  Club,  a  free- 
trade  organization,  to  subvert  American  institutions. 


140  THE  NEW  NATION 

The  Democratic  organization  drove  the  bill  through 
the  House  of  Representatives  in  spite  of  all  resist 
ance.  In  the  Senate,  with  the  Republicans  in  con 
trol,  the  bill  never  came  to  a  vote,  and  was  used  to 
manufacture  campaign  materials  for  the  campaign 
then  pending.  Many  of  the  advisers  of  Cleveland 
had  urged  him  to  withhold  the  tariff  message,  lest 
he  arouse  the  enemy  and  defeat  himself,  but  he  had 
risked  personal  and  party  defeat  in  order  to  get  an 
issue  definitively  accepted  —  the  first  issue  so  ac 
cepted  in  politics  since  1864. 

The  Mills  Bill  fiasco  was  the  most  important 
party  measure  of  Cleveland's  Administration,  yet  it 
served  only  to  accentuate  the  difficulties  in  tariff 
legislation  which  had  been  experienced  in  1883,  and 
to  provide  an  issue  for  the  campaign  of  1888.  The 
laws  that  were  passed  between  1885  and  1889  were 
generally  non-partisan  in  their  character  and  were 
of  most  influence  when  they  helped  to  readjust  fed 
eral  law  to  national  economic  problems.  The  Federal 
Government  was  unfolding  and  testing  powers  that 
had  existed  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
but  had  not  been  needed  hitherto  in  an  agricultural 
republic.  The  change  that  forced  the  resort  to  these 
powers  came  largely  from  the  completion  of  a  na 
tional  system  of  communication. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

For  the  election  of  1884,  consult,  in  addition  to  Stanwood, 
J.  F.  Rhodes,  "  The  National  Republican  Conventions  of  1880 
and  1884  "  (Scribner's  Magazine,  September,  1911),  and  "  Cleve 
land's  Administrations  "  (Scribner's  Magazine,  October,  1911). 


GROVER  CLEVELAND  141 

There  is  an  annotated  reprint  of  the  "  Mulligan  Letters  "  in 
Harper's  Weekly  (1884,  pp.  643-46).  The  biographies  of  Elaine 
by  Hamilton  and  Stanwood  should  be  examined,  as  well  as  the 
sketches  of  Cleveland  (who  left  few  literary  remains),  by  J.  L. 
Williams,  G.  F.  Parker,  and  R.  W.  Gilder.  Among  partisan 
party  histories,  the  best  are  F.  Curtis,  The  Republican  Party, 
(2  vols.,  1904),  and  W.  L.  Wilson,  The  National  Democratic 
Party  (1888).  J.  H.  Harper  recounts  details  of  the  Mugwump 
split  in  his  history  of  The  House  of  Harper  (1912).  The  stand 
ard  compilation  on  the  pension  system,  which  has  not  yet  re 
ceived  adequate  treatment,  is  W.  H.  Glasson,  Military  Pension 
Legislation  in  the  United  States  (in  Columbia  University  Stud 
ies,  vol.  xii).  C.  F.  Adams  and  W.  B.  Hale  published  useful 
essays  on  the  pension  system  in  World's  Work,  1911.  H.  T. 
Peck  begins  his  popular  Twenty  Years  of  the  Republic  (1907) 
with  tha  inauguration  of  Cleveland  in  1885.  Consult  also 
Sparks,  Dewey,  Andrews,  and  the  Annual  Cyclopaedia. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    LAST    OF   THE    FRONTIER 

FIVE  statutes  that  received  the  signature  of  Grover 
Cleveland  are  documentary  proof  of  the  new  prob 
lems  and  the  changing  attitude  of  the  National  Ad 
ministration  during  the  eighties.  They  indicate  that 
the  chief  function  of  the  National  Government  had 
ceased  to  be  to  moderate  among  a  group  of  self- 
sufficient  States  and  had  come  to  be  the  direction  of 
such  interests  as  were  national  in  importance  or  ex- % 
tent.  On  February  4,  1887,  the  Interstate  Com 
merce  Law  was  passed  in  recognition  of  a  transpor 
tation  system  that  had  become  national;  and  four 
days  later  the  Da-wes  Bill,  providing  that  lands 
should  be  issued  to  Indians  in  severalty,  marked  the 
disappearance  of  the  wild  Indian  from  the  border. 
In  1889  a  Department  of  Agriculture,  with  a  seat 
in  the  Cabinet,  and  a  law  for  the  survey  of  irriga 
tion  sites  in  the  Far  West,  mark  the  interest  of  a 
nation  in  the  prosperity  of  its  whole  area  and  popu 
lation;  while  laws  of  1889  and  1890  admitting  six 
new  States  extended  the~chain  of  commonwealths 
for  the  first  time  from  ocean  to  ocean.  A  process 
that  had  been  under  way  since  Jamestown  and 
Plymouth  Rock  had  culminated  in  the  occupation  of 
the  whole  breadth  of  the  continent. 

The  first  continental  railroad,  the  Union  Pacific, 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER      143 

chartered  in  1862  and  finished  in  1869,  was  ad 
mittedly  a  national  project.  Its  purpose  was  to  bind 
the  Pacific  Slope  to  the  East  in  a  period  when  sec 
tionalism  was  a  menace  to  national  unity.  Its  open 
ing  was  the  first  step  in  the  completion  of  an  intri 
cate  system  of  lines  extending  to  the  Pacific.  Direct 
federal  aid  was  given  to  the  road  in  the  form  of  land 
grants,  right  of  way,  and  a  loan  of  bonds. 

Other  continental  railroads  were  authorized  in  the 
later  sixties.  In  1864  a  Northern  Pacific,  to  con 
nect  Lake  Superior  and  Puget  Sound,  made  its 
appearance.  In  1866  the  Atlantic  &  Pacific  was 
given  the  right  to  run  from  a  southwestern  terminal 
at  Springfield,  Missouri,  to  southern  California.  In 
1871  the  Texas  Pacific  was  designed  to  connect  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Red  River,  near  Shreve- 
port  and  Texarkana,  with  Fort  Yuma  and  San 
Diego.  Additional  lines  with  continental  possibili 
ties  received  charters  from  the  Western  States,  — 
the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande,  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
&  Quincy,  and  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe,  — 
and  received  indirectly  a  share  of  the  public  domain 
as  an  inducement  to  build.  Congress  stopped  mak 
ing  land  grants  for  this  purpose  in  1871,  but  not 
until  more  lines  than  could  be  used  for  twenty  years 
had  been  allowed. 

All  the  continental  railways  were  begun  before 
1873,  were  checked  by  the  five  years  of  depression, 
and  were  revived  about  1878.  When  they  began 
again  to  build  there  was  associated  with  them  a  new 
project  for  an  old  continental  route. 

The  interoceanic  canal   had   been  foreseen  ever 


144  THE  NEW  NATION 

since  the  first  white  man  stood  on  the  Isthmus  and 
gazed  at  the  Pacific.  Its  construction  had  been 
stimulated  by  the  gold  discoveries  and  the  California 
emigration  of  1848-49,  and  had  been  arranged  for 
in  a  treaty  signed  with  Great  Britain  in  1850.  No 
means  to  build  the  canal  were  found,  however,  and 
the  project  drifted  along  until  De  Lesseps  finished 
his  canal  at  Suez,  and  the  new  interest  in  continental 
communication  in  America  resuscitated  the  canal  at 
Panama.  In  1878  a  French  company,  with  De  Les 
seps  at  its  head,  obtained  a  concession  from  Colom 
bia.  It  began  work  in  1880,  at  once  arousing  the 
jealousy  of  the  United  States  which  was  shown  in 
the  efforts  of  Hayes,  Garfield,  and  Arthur  to  abro 
gate  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  and  procure  for 
the  United  States  a  free  hand  at  the  Isthmus.  Cleve 
land  reverted  to  the  policy  of  a  neutralized  canal  in 
1885,  but  interest  on  either  side  was  premature, 
since  no  canal  was  built  for  thirty  years. 

The  continental  railways  aroused  keen  interest  in 
problems  of  transportation  by  their  completion  be 
tween  1881  and  1885.  The  Northern  Pacific  was 
finished  under  the  direction  of  Henry  Villard,  a  Ger 
man  journalist  who  had  been  a  correspondent  in  the 
Civil  War  and  had  managed  the  interests  of  foreign 
investors  after  1873.  He  gained  control  of  the  partly 
finished  Northern  Pacific  and  the  local  lines  of  Ore 
gon  through  a  holding  company  known  as  the  Oregon 
&  Transcontinental.  In  September,  1883,  he  took  a 
special  train,  full  of  distinguished  visitors,  over  his 
lines  to  witness  the  driving  of  the  last  spike  near 
Helena,  Montana.  On  the  way  out,  they  stopped  at 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER      145 

Bismarck  to  help  lay  the  corner-stone  for  an  am 
bitious  new  capitol  of  the  Territory  of  Dakota.  From 
Duluth  to  Tacoma  the  new  line  brought  in  immi 
grants  whose  freight  made  its  chief  business. 

South  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  the  original  main 
line  of  the  Union  Pacific  ran  from  Omaha  up  the 
Platte  Trail  through  Cheyenne  to  Ogden,  with  a 
branch  from  Kansas  City  to  Denver  and  Cheyenne. 
Between  the  main  line  and  the  branch  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Quincy  constructed  a  road  that  reached 
Denver  in  May,  1882.  Here  it  met,  in  1883,  the 
Denver  &  Rio  Grande,  a  narrow-gauge  road  that 
penetrated  the  divide  by  way  of  the  canon  of  the  Ar 
kansas  River,  and  extended  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 
The  two  roads  together  offered  a  competition  to  the 
Union  Pacific  for  its  whole  length  from  the  Missouri 
River  to  Ogden,  and  drove  that  road  to  extend 
feeder  branches  south  to  the  Gulf  and  north  into 
Oregon. 

Farther  south  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
stretched  the  whole  length  of  Kansas  and  followed 
the  old  trail  to  Santa  Fe  and  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
thence  to  Old  Mexico.  Its  owners  cooperated  with 
the  owners  of  the  Atlantic  &  Pacific  franchise,  and 
the  Southern  Pacific  of  California,  to  build  a  con 
necting  link  between  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa 
Fe  at  Albuquerque  and  the  Colorado  River  at  the 
Needles.  From  this  point  the  Southern  Pacific  trav 
ersed  the  valleys  of  California.  In  October,  1883, 
trains  were  running  from  San  Francisco  to  St.  Louis 
over  this  road. 

The  Southern  Pacific  of  California  met  the  other 


•  By  1870  the  railway  net  had  covered  the  eastern  half  of  the  United 
States  and  had  just  begun  its  Pacific  extension.  There  were  52,914 
miles  of  railroad. 

THE  WESTERN  RAILROADS  AND  THE 

(Based  upon  the  maps  showing  density  of  population  in  the  Eleventh 

Rand-McNally  Official  Rail- 


By  1890  the  railway  mileage  of  the  United  States  had  increased  to 
163,597,  extending  the  railway  net  over  the  whole  trans-Missouri  region, 
and  reinforced  by  lines  in  Canada  and  Mexico. 

CONTINENTAL,   FRONTIER,  1870-1890 

Census,  and  upon  Appleton's  Railway  Guide,  November,  1871,  and  the 
way  Guide,  August,  1891.) 


148  THE  NEW  NATION 

continental  lines  at  the  Fort  Yuma  crossing  of  the 
Colorado  River.  The  Texas  Pacific  had  got  only  to 
Fort  Worth  before  the  panic  of  1873.  It  now  built 
across  Texas  toward  El  Paso.  Subsidiary  corpora 
tions  owned  by  the  Southern  Pacific  men  built  the 
line  between  El  Paso  and  Fort  Yuma,  and  enabled  a 
through  service  to  start  to  St.  Louis  in  January,  and 
to  New  Orleans  in  October,  1882.  Yet  another 
Southern  Pacific  line  was  opened  through  San  An 
tonio  and  Houston,  tapping  the  commerce  of  the  Gulf 
shore,  and  running  trains  to  New  Orleans  in  Feb 
ruary,  1883. 

The  opening  of  great  lines  in  the  United  States  in 
the  early  eighties  was  part  of  a  similar  movement 
throughout  the  world.  In  Canada,  Sir  Donald  Smith, 
later  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Lord  Strathcona,  was 
beginning  the  Canadian  Pacific  from  Port  Arthur  to 
Vancouver,  while  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  the 
first  train  of  the  "  Orient  Express "  left  Paris  for 
Constantinople  in  June,  1883.  In  November,  1883, 
the  American  railroads,  realizing  that  they  were  a 
national  system,  agreed  upon  a  scheme  of  standard 
time  by  which  to  run  their  trains.  Heretofore  every 
road  had  followed  what  local  time  it  chose,  to  the 
confusion  of  the  traveling  public. 

Most  of  the  continental  railways  had  extensive 
land  grants,  of  from  twenty  to  forty  sections  per 
mile  of  track,  but  whether  they  had  lands  to  sell  or 
not  they  were  vitally  interested  in  the  settlement  of 
the  regions  through  which  they  ran.  Each  encouraged 
immigration  and  colonization.  Their  literature,  scat 
tered  over  Europe,  was  one  factor  in  the  heavy  drift 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER       149 

of  population  that  started  after  1878.  Six  new  West 
ern  States  were  created  in  the  ten  years  after  their 
completion. 

The  youngest  American  Territory  in  the  eighties 
was  Wyoming,  created  in  1868,  and  the  youngest 
State  was  Colorado,  admitted  in  1876.  After  Colo 
rado,  the  political  division  of  the  West  embraced  eight 
organized  Territories  :  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho,  and 
Washington  along  the  Canadian  line,  Wyoming  and 
Utah  in  the  middle,  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  on  the 
Mexican  border.  Besides  these  Territories  there  was 
the  unorganized  remnant  of  the  Indian  country  known 
as  Indian  Territory,  and  attracting  the  covetous 
glances  of  frontiersmen  in  all  the  near-by  Western 
States. 

Agriculture  was  the  main  reliance  of  the  wave  of 
pioneers  that  poured  over  the  plains  along  the  lines 
of  the  railroads.  In  the  valley  of  the  Red  River  of 
the  North,  wheat-farming  was  their  staple  industry. 
As  the  Old  South  had  devoted  itself  to  the  staple 
crop  of  cotton,  so  this  new  region  took  up  the  single 
crop  of  wheat,  bringing  to  its  cultivation  great  ma 
chines,  white  labor,  and  a  modified  factory  system. 
South  of  the  wheat  country,  corn  dominated  in  Kan 
sas,  Iowa,  and  Nebraska,  and  went  to  market  either 
as  grain  or  in  the  converted  form  of  hogs  or  stock. 
In  Texas  the  cotton-fields  pushed  into  new  areas.  The 
farm  lands  completely  surrounded  the  Indian  Terri 
tory,  in  which  a  diversified  agriculture  was  known  to 
be  both  possible  and  profitable. 

Across  the  United  States,  from  Canada  to  Mexico, 
the  advance  line  of  farms  pushed  from  the  well- 


150  THE  NEW  NATION 

watered  bottoms  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  into  the 
plains  that  rise  toward  the  Kocky  Mountains.  Near 
the  ninety-seventh  meridian  the  rainfall  of  this  re 
gion  becomes  insufficient  for  general  farming  in 
ordinary  years.  But  the  solicitations  of  land-sellers 
brought  settlers  into  the  subhumid  region,  while  for 
a  few  years  in  the  eighties  the  rainfall  was  greater 
than  the  average.  Permanent  climatic  changes  were 
imagined  by  the  hopeful.  A  Governor  of  Kansas 
stated,  in  1886,  "with  absolute  certainty,  that  great 
areas  in  the  Western  third  of  Kansas  are  becoming 
more  fertile,"  while  an  Eastern  Senator,  who  was 
generally  well  informed,  believed  in  1888  that  "the 
whole  Territory  of  Dakota  is  as  capable  of  sustaining 
population  as  Iowa." 

Between  the  farming  frontier  and  the  mountains 
the  cattlemen  expanded  the  grazing  industry,  with 
profits  that  were  enlarged  because  of  the  markets 
that  the  railroads  brought  them.  The  "long  drive  " 
from  Texas  to  Montana  became  a  familiar  idea  on 
the  border,  while  the  cowboys  in  their  lonely  watches 
developed  a  folk-song  literature  that  is  typically 
American.  Between  the  cattlemen  and  the  sheep 
men  there  was  permanent  war,  for  the  sheep  injured 
the  grass  they  grazed  over.  Although  both  industries 
were  trespassers  on  the  public  lands  the  herders  re 
sented  the  appearance  of  the  flocks  as  an  intrusion 
upon  their  domain. 

Kansas  City  rose  suddenly  to  prominence  as  the 
meeting-place  of  the  railways  of  the  West  and  South 
west  with  those  of  the  East.  Near  to  the  line  that 
divided  steady  agriculture  from  the  nomadic  life  of 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER       151 

the  plains  it  became  a  convenient  market  for  both. 
Here  the  packers  developed  the  traffic  in  fresh  beef  X 
that  the  new  railways  with  their  refrigerator  cars 
made  possible.  The  cities  of  the  East,  in  need 
of  more  fresh  meat  than  the  local  farmers  could 
provide,  found  their  supply  on  the  plains  of  the  Far 
West. 

Beyond  the  plains,  the  mountain  regions  changed 
less  from  the  advent  of  the  railways  than  any  other 
section  of  the  remote  West.  They  had  attracted 
population  to  their  camps  during  the  Civil  War,  and 
now  they  grew  in  size  and  permanence.  But  only 
such  regions  reached  permanent  importance  as  had 
valleys  to  be  irrigated  and  fields  to  be  cultivated. 
Without  agriculture  no  important  region  has  flour 
ished  in  the  West. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  eighties  the  pressure  of  the 
population  for  more  homestead  lands  brought  about 
the  opening  of  Oklahoma.  Here,  for  over  half  a  cen 
tury,  the  Indian  tribes  had  lived  in  full  possession. 
After  the  Civil  War  the  plains  tribes  had  been  col 
onized  here  too.  Now,  as  the  lands  were  awarded  to 
the  Indians  in  severalty  under  the  Dawes  Act,  the 
old  tribal  holdings  were  surrendered  and  large  areas 
were  offered  to  white  settlement.  After  ten  years  of 
ejectment  and  restraint  the  Oklahoma  boomers  were 
let  into  the  country  in  1889.  Guthrie  and  Oklahoma 
City  were  created  overnight,  and  in  1890  the  Terri 
tory  of  Oklahoma  received  permanent  organization. 

Before  the  last  continental  railway  was  finished, 
the  Territories  were  asking  for  statehood  and  were 
showing  advance  in  population  to  justify  it.  When 


152  THE  NEW  NATION 

Villard  aided  in  the  corner-stone  laying  at  Bismarck 
in  1883  there  were  already  three  clearly  defined 
groups  of  population  in  Dakota  and  an  ultimate 
division  had  been  determined  upon  by  the  settlers. 
Repeatedly,  in  the  decade,  the  Dakota  colonists 
framed  constitutions  and  signed  petitions,  and  the 
Republicans  in  Congress  sought  to  give  them  state 
hood.  The  Democratic  House,  which  prevailed  from 
1883  to  1889,  saw  no  reason  for  creating  more  Re 
publican  States,  as  these  would  likely  be,  and  found 
pretexts  for  holding  up  the  bills.  Montana,  less  ad 
vanced  than  Dakota,  and  Idaho  and  Wyoming  which 
were  yet  more  primitive,  joined  the  forces  of  the 
statehood  advocates.  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  did 
the  same,  and  Utah  had  been  a  suitor  since  1850. 
Washington,  with  a  growing  population  on  Puget 
Sound  and  in  the  Spokane  country,  was  obviously 
not  long  to  be  denied. 

For  party  purposes,  the  Democrats  resisted  the 
demands  for  statehood  until  the  election  of  1888 
insured  Republican  control  through  every  branch  of 
the  United  States  Government.  Thereafter  there 
was  no  point  to  resistance,  and  Cleveland,  in  1889, 
signed  an  "  omnibus  "  bill  under  which  North  Dakota, 
South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Washington  were  ad 
mitted.  Idaho  and  Wyoming,  defeated  at  this  time, 
were  let  in  by  the  Republicans  in  1890.  The  un 
organized  frontier  was  now  all  but  gone,  and  the 
pioneers  of  these  new  States  used  Pullman  cars  and 
read  the  monthly  magazines  like  any  other  citizens. 

Arizona  and  New  Mexico  were  excluded  from  the 
new  States  of  1889  and  1890  because  a  Republican 


Ill 

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154  THE  NEW  NATION 

Congress  expected  them  to  be  Democratic,  and  both 
remained  Territories  for  more  than  twenty  succeed 
ing  years.  Utah,  with  ample  population,  was  kept 
where  the  Federal  Government  could  control  it  be 
cause  of  the  practices  taught  by  its  Church.  The 
Mormons  had  made  a  prosperous  Territory  in  Utah 
by  1850.  They  had  flourished  ever  since,  but  their 
institution  of  polygamy  frightened  the  United  States 
and  created  permanent  hostility  to  their  admission. 
In  1882  the  Territory  was  placed  under  a  commis 
sion,  and  thereafter  polygamous  citizens  were  brought 
to  punishment.  In  1890  the  Church  gave  up  the 
fight  and  formally  abandoned  the  obnoxious  doctrine, 
but  the  surrender  came  too  late  to  accomplish  admis 
sion  at  this  time. 

By  1890  the  good  agricultural  lands  of  the  United 
States  were  nearly  all  in  private  hands.  Their  oc 
cupation  had  been  hastened  in  the  last  five  years  by 
facility  of  access  and  the  efforts  of  the  railways. 
With  the  disappearance  of  free  lands  a  new  period 
in  America  began,  as  was  recognized  at  the  time, 
and  has  become  clearer  ever  since. 

Out  of  forty-eight  States  comprising  the  United 
States  in  1912,  and  including  about  1,902,000,000 
acres,  twenty-nine  with  1,442,000, 000  acres  had  been 
erected  in  the  public  domain  to  which  Congress  had 
once  owned  title.  By  cession,  purchase,  or  conquest 
this  domain  had  been  acquired  between  1781  and 
1853 ;  it  had  been  treated  as  a  national  asset  and 
governed  with  what  efficiency  Congress  possessed. 
By  1903  the  United  States  had  transferred  to  in 
dividuals  about  half  its  public  land  and  nearly  all 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER        155 

its  farm  land.  It  retained  many  millions  of  acres, 
but  these  were  mountain  or  desert,  and  were  not 
usable  by  the  individual  farmer  who  had  been  the 
typical  unit  in  the  occupation  of  the  West. 

Already,  by  1880,  the  statisticians  had  recognized 
that  the  period  of  free  land  was  at  an  end,  and  had 
turned  their  attention  to  the  abuses  which  had  arisen 
in  the  administration  of  the  estate.  From  the  begin 
ning,  it  had  been  difficult  to  compel  the  West  to 
respect  national  land  laws.  The  squatter  who  oc 
cupied  lands  without  title  had  always  been  an  obsta 
cle  to  uniform  administration.  Evasion  of  the  law 
had  rarely  been  frowned  upon  by  Western  opinion, 
which  had  hoped  to  get  the  public  lands  into  private 
hands  by  the  quickest  route.  In  the  region  where 
the  laws  had  to  be  enforced,  opinion  prevented  it, 
while  the  National  Administration,  before  the  adop 
tion  of  civil  service  reform,  was  incapable  of  direct 
ing  with  accuracy  and  uniform  policy  any  adminis 
trative  scheme  which  must  be  so  highly  technical  as 
a  land  office.  The  Preemption,  Homestead,  and 
Timber  Culture  Laws  were  all  framed  in  the  interest 
of  the  small  holder,  but  were  all  perverted  by  fraud 
and  collusion.  The  United  States  invited  much  of 
the  fraud  by  making  no  provision  by  which  those 
industries  which  had  a  valid  need  for  a  large  acre 
age  could  get  it  legally. 

Among  the  special  abuses  that  were  observed  now 
that  it  was  too  late  to  remedy  them  were  the  viola 
tions  of  the  law  and  the  lawless  seizures  of  the  pub 
lic  lands.  The  cattle  companies  took  and  fenced  what 
they  needed  and  drove  out  "trespassers"  by  force. 


156  THE  NEW  NATION 

Mail  contractors  complained  of  illegal  inclosures 
which  they  dare  not  cross,  but  which  diverted  the 
United  States  mail  from  its  lawful  course.  Yet  such 
was  the  general  land  law  that  against  all  but  the 
United  States  Government  the  possessors  could 
maintain  their  possession.  If  the  Government  could 
not  or  would  not  interfere,  there  was  no  redress. 

These  abuses  had  been  noticed  for  many  years, 
and  were  specially  advertised  in  the  early  eighties  by 
the  enormous  holdings  of  a  few  British  noblemen. 
The  problem  of  absentee  landlordism  was  exciting 
Ireland  in  these  years.  When  Cleveland  became 
President  his  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  Sparks,  turned  cheerfully  and  vigorously  to 
reform,  and  denounced  the  discreditable  condition 
the  more  readily  because  it  had  appeared  under 
Republican  administration.  He  held  up  the  granting 
of  homestead  and  preemption  titles  for  the  purpose 
of  examination  and  inspection,  and  demanded  the 
repeal  of  the  Preemption  Law.  He  was  successful 
in  recovering  some  of  the  lands  that  had  been  offered 
to  the  railways  to  aid  in  their  construction. 

The  railway  land  grants  were  notorious  because 
the  railways  had  rarely  been  done  on  contract  time, 
and  had  in  theory  forfeited  their  grants.  The  esti 
mated  area  offered  them  was  about  214,000,000 
acres,  and  the  question  arose  as  to  the  extent  to 
which  forfeiture  should  be  imposed  upon  them.  The 
spectacular  completion  of  their  lines  and  their  efforts 
to  bring  a  population  into  the  West,  and  the  vast 
size  of  the  corporations  that  owned  them,  had  aroused 
a  hostile  opinion  that  supported  the  Democratic 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER         157 

Administration  in  its  efforts  to  save  what  lands  it 
could.  Some  fifty  million  acres  were  restored  to  the 
domain  by  this  fight,  but  the  restoration  only  em 
phasized  the  fact  that  most  of  the  good  lands  were 
gone. 

Out  of  the  demand  for  the  reform  of  the  public 
lands  grew  a  new  interest  in  the  condition  of  the 
lands  that  were  left.  The  Department  of  Agri 
culture  was  created  at  the  end  of  Cleveland's  term, 
and  Governor  Jeremiah  Rusk  was  appointed  as  its 
first  Secretary  by  Harrison.  Rusk  accepted  cheer 
fully  his  place  as  "  the  tail  of  the  Cabinet,"  asserting 
that  as  such  he  was  expected  "  to  keep  the  flies  off," 
and  set  about  rearranging  or  organizing  a  group  of 
scientific  bureaus.  Since  most  of  the  remaining 
lands  could  not  be  used  without  irrigation,  the  sur 
veys  undertaken  by  Congress  started  a  new  phase 
of  public  science,  and  led  ultimately  to  the  rise  of  a 
positive  theory  of  conservation. 
^  The  problems  of  national  communication,  Western 
settlement,  and  public  lands  resulted  from  the  com 
pletion  of  the  continental  railways,  while  the  rail 
ways  themselves  gave  a  new  significance  to  trans 
portation  in  America.  During  the  years  of  the 
Granger  movement  the  doctrine  had  been  estab 
lished  that  railroads  are  quasi-public  and  are  subject 
to  regulation  by  public  authority.  In  the  Granger 
Cases  in  1877  the  Supreme  Court  recognized  the 
right  of  the  States  to  establish  rates  by  law,  even 
when  these  rates,  by  becoming  part  of  a  through 
rate,  had  an  incidental  effect  upon  interstate  com 
merce.  The  problem  had  been  viewed  as  local  or 


158  THE  NEW  NATION 

regional  during  the  seventies.  Most  of  the  States  had 
passed  railway  laws  and  had  proceeded  to  accumu 
late  a  volume  of  statistical  information  upon  the 
railway  business,  that  was  increased  by  such  public 
investigations  as  the  Windom  and  Hepburn  Re 
ports  and  by  lawsuits  that  revealed  the  nature  of 
special  favors  and  rebates. 

Before  the  States  had  gone  far  in  the  direction 
of  railway  regulation  it  was  discovered  that  no 
State  could  regulate  an  interstate  railway  with  pre 
cision  and  justice.  The  great  systems  built  up  by 
Villard  and  Gould  and  Vanderbilt  and  Huntington 
dominated  whole  regions  and  precipitated  the  ques 
tion  of  the  effectiveness  of  state  action.  The  conti 
nental  lines,  necessarily  long  and  traversing  several 
States,  emphasized  the  inequality  between  the  pow 
ers  of  a  State  and  the  problem  to  be  met.  Their 
national  character  pointed  to  national  control. 

In  Congress  there  were  repeated  attempts  after 
1873  to  secure  the  passage  of  an  Interstate  Com 
merce  Act.  In  continuation  of  this  campaign  a  com 
mittee  headed  by  Senator  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  of 
Illinois,  made  a  new  investigation  in  1885,  and 
reported  early  in  1886  that  supervision  and  pub 
licity  were  required,  and  that  these  could  best  be 
obtained  through  a  federal  commission  with  large 
powers  of  taking  testimony  and  examining  books. 
The  committee  was  convinced,  as  the  public  was  al 
ready  convinced,  that  the  problem  had  become  na 
tional. 

The  Supreme  Court  reached  the  same  opinion  in 
1886  when  it  handed  down  a  new  decision  in  the 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER         159 

case  of  the  W abash  Railway  Company  vs.  Illinois. 
Here  it  reversed  or  modified  its  own  decision  in  the 
Granger  Cases.  In  1877  it  had  ruled  that  railways 
are  subject  to  regulation  and  that  the  States  under 
their  police  powers  may  regulate.  It  now  adhered  to 
its  major  premise,  but  declared  that  such  regulation 
as  affected  an  interstate  rate  is  exclusively  a  fed 
eral  function.  In  effect  it  determined  that  if  there 
was  to  be  regulation  of  the  great  systems  it  could 
only  be  at  the  hands  of  Congress. 

The  regulation  of  interstate  commerce  was  not 
a  party  measure.  It  had  its  advocates  in  both  par 
ties,  and  found  its  opponents  in  the  railroad  lobby 
that  resented  any  public  interference  with  the  busi 
ness  of  the  roads.  The  railway  owners  and  directors 
were  slower  than  the  public  in  accepting  the  doctrine 
of  the  quasi-public  nature  of  their  business.  It  was  a 
powerful  argument  against  them  that  their  size  and 
influence  were  such  that  they  could  and  did  ruin  or 
enrich  individual  customers,  and  that  they  could 
make  or  destroy  whole  regions  of  the  West.  Enough 
positive  proof  of  favoritism  existed  to  give  point  to 
the  demand  that  the  business  must  cease  to  dis 
criminate. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Act  became  a  law  Feb 
ruary  4,  1887.  It  created  a  commission  of  five,  with 
a  six-year  term  and  the  proviso  that  not  more  than 
three  of  the  commissioners  should  belong  to  one 
party.  It  forbade  a  group  of  practices  which  had 
resulted  in  unfair  discrimination  and  gave  to  the 
commission  considerable  powers  in  investigation  and 
interference.  The  later  interpretation  of  the  law  de- 


160  THE  NEW  NATION 

prived  the  commission  of  some  of  the  powers  that,  it 
was  thought,  had  been  given  to  it,  but  during  the 
next  nineteen  years  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com 
mission  was  a  central  figure  in  the  solution  of  the 
railroad  problem.  The  work  of  this  commission,  like 
the  work  of  irrigation  and  agriculture,  was  technical, 
calling  for  expert  service,  and  aiding  in  the  process 
that  was  changing  the  character  of  the  National  Ad 
ministration  as  one  function  after  another  was  called 
into  service  for  the  first  time. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

In  1893  F.  J.  Turner  called  attention  to  the  Significance  of 
the  Frontier  in  American  History  (in  American  Historical  As 
sociation,  Annual  Report,  1893).  His  theory  has  been  elabo 
rated  by  F.  L.  Paxson,  The  Last  American  Frontier  (1910), 
and  K.  Coman,  Economic  Beginnings  of  the  Far  West  (1912). 
There  is  no  good  account  of  the  public  lands.  T.  Donaldson, 
The  Public  Domain  (1881),  is  inaccurate,  antiquated,  and 
clumsy,  but  has  not  been  supplanted.  Many  useful  tables  are 
in  the  report  of  the  Public  Lands  Commission  created  by 
President  Roosevelt  (in  58th  Congress,  3d  session,  Senate 
Document,  No.  189,  Serial  No.  4766).  The  general  spirit  of 
the  frontier  in  the  eighties  has  been  appreciated  by  Owen 
Wister,  in  The  Virginian  (1902),  and  Members  of  the  Family 
(1911),  and  by  E.  Talbot,  in  My  People  of  the  Plains  (1906). 
J.  A.  Lomax  has  preserved  some  of  its  folklore  in  Cowboy 
Songs  and  Other  Frontier  Ballads  (1910).  The  best  narratives 
on  the  continental  railways  are  J.  P.  Davis,  Union  Pacific  Rail 
way  (1894),  and  E.  V.  Smalley,  The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
(1883).  Many  contributory  details  are  in  H.  Villard,  Memoirs 
(2  vols.,  1904),  E.  P.  Oberholtzer,  Jay  CooTce  (2  vols.,  1907), 
and  in  the  appropriate  volumes  of  H.  H.  Bancroft,  Works. 
L.  H.  Haney  has  compiled  the  formal  documents  in  his  Con 
gressional  History  of  Railroads  (in  Bulletins  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin,  Nos.  211  and  342).  The  debate  over  the  Isth 
mian  Canal  may  be  read  in  J.  D.  Richardson,  Messages  and 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  FRONTIER        161 

Papers  of  the  Presidents ;  the  Foreign  Relations  Reports,  1879- 
83  ;  L.  M.  Keasbey,  The  Nicaragua  Canal  and  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  (1896)  ;  J.  B.  Henderson,  American  Diplomatic  Ques 
tions  (1901)  ;  and  J.  Latane",  Diplomatic  Relations  of  the  United 
States  and  Spanish  America  (1900). 


CHAPTEK  X 

NATIONAL   BUSINESS 

TRANSPORTATION  was  a  fundamental  factor  in  the 
two  greatest  problems  of  the  eighties.  In  the  case  of 
the  disappearance  of  free  land  and  the  frontier,  it 
produced  phenomena  that  were  most  clearly  visible 
in  the  West,  although  affecting  the  whole  United 
States.  In  the  case  of  concentration  of  capital  and 
the  growth  of  trusts,  its  phenomena  were  mostly  in 
the  East,  where  were  to  be  found  the  accumulations 
of  capital,  the  great  markets,  and  the  supply  of  labor. 

Through  the  improvements  in  communication  it 
became  possible  to  conduct  an  efficient  business  in 
every  State  and  direct  it  from  a  single  head  office. 
Not  only  railroad  and  telegraph  helped  in  this,  but 
telephone,  typewriter,  the  improved  processes  in 
photography  and  printing,  and  the  organization  of 
express  service  were  of  importance  and  touched 
every  aspect  of  life.  Journalism  both  broadened 
and  concentrated.  The  effective  range  of  the  week 
lies  and  monthlies  and  even  of  the  city  dailies  was 
widened,  while  the  resulting  competition  tended  to 
weed  out  the  weaker  and  more  local.  Illustrations 
improved  and  changed  the  physical  appearance  of 
periodical  literature. 

Social  organizations  of  national  scope  or  ambition 
took  advantage  of  the  new  communication.  Trade 


NATIONAL  BUSINESS  163 

unions,  benevolent  associations,  and  professional  so 
cieties  multiplied  their  annual  congresses  and  con 
ventions,  and  increased  the  proportion  of  the  popu 
lation  that  knew  something  of  the  whole  Union.  A 
few  periodicals  and  pattern-makers  began  to  circu 
late  styles,  which  clothing  manufacturers  imitated 
and  local  shopkeepers  sold  at  retail.  Mail-order 
business  was  aided  by  the  same  conditions.  A  new 
uniformity  in  appearance  began  to  enter  American 
life,  weakening  the  old  localisms  in  dress,  speech, 
and  conduct.  Until  within  a  few  years  it  had  been 
possible  here  and  there  to  sit  down  to  dinner  "  with 
a  gentleman  in  the  dress  of  the  early  century  — 
ruffles,  even  bag-wig  complete  " ;  but  the  new  stand 
ards  were  the  standards  of  the  mass,  and  it  became 
increasingly  more  difficult  to  keep  up  an  aristocratic 
seclusion  or  a  style  of  life  much  different  from  that 
of  the  community. 

With  the  growth  of  national  uniformity  went  also 
the  concentration  of  control.  As  the  field  of  competi 
tion  widened,  the  number  of  possible  winners  declined. 
Men  measured  strength,  not  only  in  their  town  or 
State,  but  across  the  continent,  and  the  handful  of 
leaders  used  the  facilities  of  communication  as  the 
basis  for  the  further  expansion  of  their  industries. 
Business  was  extended  because  it  was  possible  and 
because  it  was  thought  to  pay. 

Many  of  the  economies  of  consolidation  were  so 
obvious  as  to  need  no  argument.  If  a  single  firm 
could  do  the  business  of  five, —  or  fifty  —  it  increased 
its  profit  through  larger  and  better  plants,  greater 
division  of  labor,  and  a  more  careful  use  of  its  by- 


164  THE  NEW  NATION 

products.  It  could  cut  down  expenses  by  reducing  the 
army  of  competing  salesmen  and  by  lessening  the 
duplication  of  administrative  offices.  The  same  eco 
nomics  in  management  which  had  driven  the  Old 
South  to  the  large  plantation  as  a  type  drove  Ameri 
can  industrial  society  toward  economic  consolidation 
and  the  trusts. 

The  technical  form  of  organization  of  the trust_was 
unimportant.  Strictly  speaking,  it  was  a  combina 
tion  of  competing  concerns,  in  which  the  control  of 
all  was  vested  in  a  group  of  trustees  for  the  purpose 
of  uniformity.  The  name  was  thus  derived,  but  it 
spread  in  popular  usage  until  it  was  regarded  as  gen 
erally  descriptive  of  any  business  so  large  that  it 
affected  the  course  of  the  whole  trade  of  which  it  was 
a  part.  The  logical  outcome  of  the  trust  was  mono- 
poly,  and  trusts  appeared  first  in  those  industries  in 
which  there  existed  a  predisposition  to  monopoly,  an 
excessive  loss  through  competition,  or  a  controlling 
patent  or  trade  secret. 

The  first  trust  to  arouse  public  notice  was  concerned 
in  the  transportation  and  manufacture  of  petroleum 
and  its  products.  Commercial  processes  for  refining 
petroleum  became  available  in  the  sixties,  enabling 
improvements  in  domestic  illumination  that  insured 
an  increasing  market  for  the  product.  The  industry 
was  speculative  by  nature  because  of  the  low  cost  of 
crude  petroleum  at  the  well  and  the  high  cost  of  de 
livering  it  to  the  consumer.  Slight  rises  in  price 
caused  the  market  to  be  swamped  by  overproduction, 
and  threw  the  control  of  the  industry  into  the  hands 
of  those  who  controlled  its  transportation. 


NATIONAL  BUSINESS  165 

Once  above  ground,  the  cheap  and  bulky  oil  had  to 
be  hauled  first  to  the  refiner  and  then  to  the  con 
sumer.  The  receptacles  were  expensive,  and  the 
methods  of  transportation  that  were  cheapest  in 
operation  had  the  greatest  initial  cost.  Barrels  were 
relatively  cheap  to  buy,  but  were  costly  to  handle. 
Tank-cars  were  more  expensive,  but  repaid  those  who 
could  afford  them.  Pipe-lines  were  beyond  the  means 
of  the  individual,  but  brought  in  greater  returns  to 
the  corporations  that  owned  them. 

It  was  inevitable  that  some  of  the  dealers  who 
competed  in  the  oil-fields  of  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and 
West  Virginia  in  the  sixties  should  realize  the  stra 
tegic  value  of  the  control  of  transportation  and  profit 
by  it.  John  D.  Rockefeller  happened  to  be  more  suc 
cessful  than  others  in  manipulating  transportation. 
His  refineries  grew  in  size,  as  they  bought  out  or 
crushed  their  rivals,  until  by  1882  most  of  the  traffic 
in  petroleum  was  under  his  control.  Economy  and 
sagacity  had  much  to  do  with  the  success,  but  were 
less  significant  than  transportation.  Railway  rates 
were  yet  unfixed  by  law  and  every  road  sold  trans 
portation  as  best  it  could.  Rockefeller  learned  to  bar 
gain  in  freight  rates,  and  through  a  system  of  special 
rates  and  rebates  gained  advantages  over  every  com 
petitor.  His  lobby  made  it  difficult  to  weaken  him 
through  legislative  measures,  while  his  attorneys  were 
generally  more  skillful  than  his  prosecutors  before 
the  courts.  The  recognition  of  the  existence  of  re 
bates  did  much  to  hasten  the  passage  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Law.  The  group  of  corporations  that 
flourished  because  of  them  became  the  greatest  of  the 


166  THE  NEW  NATION 

trusts.  By  1882  the  affiliated  Rockefeller  companies 
were  so  numerous  and  complicated  that  they  were 
given  into  the  hands  of  a  group  of  trustees  to  be 
managed  as  a  single  business. 

The  Whiskey  and  Sugar  Trusts,  formed  in  1887, 
had  to  do  with  commodities  in  which  transportation 
was  not  the  controlling  element.  These  industries 
suffered  from  overproduction  and  ruinous  competi 
tion,  to  eliminate  which  the  distilleries  and  sugar  re 
fineries  entered  into  trust  agreements  like  that  of  the 
Standard  Oil  companies.  Other  lines  of  manufacture 
followed  as  best  they  could.  Before  Cleveland  was 
inaugurated  the  trend  was  noticed  and  attacked. 

Most  of  the  agitation  against  the  trusts  came  from 
individuals  whose  lives  were  touched  by  them.  Com 
petition  was  ruthless  and  often  unscrupulous.  Every 
man  who  was  crushed  by  it  hated  his  destroyer. 
There  was  much  changing  of  occupations  as  firms 
merged  and  reorganized  and  as  plants  grew  in  size 
and  ingenuity.  Perhaps  more  workers  changed  the 
character  of  their  occupation  in  the  eighties  than  in 
any  other  decade.  As  each  individual  readjusted 
himself  to  his  new  environment,  he  added  to  the 
mass  of  public  opinion  that  believed  the  trusts  to  be 
a  menace  to  society. 

As  early  as  1881  there  was  a  market  for  anti-trust 
literature,  for  in  March  of  that  year  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  printed  the  "  Story  of  a  Great  Monopoly," 
by  Henry  Demarest  Lloyd,  who  became  one  of  the 
leaders  in  the  attack.  It  had  been  fashionable  to  re 
gard  success  as  a  vindication  of  Yankee  cleverness 
and  worthy  of  emulation,  without  much  examination 


NATIONAL  BUSINESS  167 

of  the  methods  by  which  it  was  attained.  The  Stand 
ard  Oil  Company,  attracting  attention  to  itself, 
raised  the  question  of  the  effect  of  industry  upon 
society. 

The  evils  ascribed  to  the  trusts  were  social  or 
political.  In  a  social  way  they  were  believed  to 
check  individualism  and  to  create  too  large  a  pro- 
pt)rtion  of  subordinates  to  independent  producers. 
As  monopolies,  they  were  believed  to  threaten  ex 
tortion  through  high  price.  It  was  strongly  suspected 
of  the  largest  trusts  that  having  destroyed  all  com 
petition  they  could  fix  prices  at  pleasure.  Economists 
pointed  out  that  such  price  could  hardly  be  high 
and  yet  remunerative  to  the  trusts,  because  the  latter 
did  not  dare  to  check  consumption.  But  fear  of  op 
pression  could  not  be  dispelled  by  any  economic 
law. 

The  trust  was  believed  to  have  an  evil  influence 
in  politics,  and  to  obtain  special  favors  through  brib 
ery  or  pressure.  The  United  States  was  used  to  the 
influence  of  money  in  politics,  and  distrusted  public 
officials.  The  state  constitutions  framed  in  this  pe 
riod  were  being  expanded  into  codes  of  specific  law 
in  the  hope  of  safeguarding  public  interests.  There 
was  little  belief  that  corrupt  overtures,  if  made  by 
the  trusts,  would  be  resisted. 

Lloyd,  and  men  of  his  type,  believed  in  regulation 
and  control.  Some  of  them  became  socialists.  Others 
hoped  to  restore  a  competitive  basis  by  law.  The 
greatest  impression  on  the  public  was  made  by  one 
of  their  literary  allies,  Edward  Bellamy. 

Early  in  1888  Edward  Bellamy  published  a  ro- 


168  THE  NEW  NATION 

mance  entitled  Looking  Backward,  in  which  his 
hero,  Mr.  Julian  West,  went  to  sleep  in  1887,  with 
labor  controversy  and  trust  denunciation  sounding 
in  his  ears,  to  awake  in  the  year  2000  A.D.  The  so 
cialized  state  into  which  the  hero  was  reborn  was  a 
picture  of  an  end  to  which  industry  was  perhaps 
drifting.  It  caught  public  attention.  Clubs  of  en 
thusiasts  tried  to  hasten  the  day  of  nationalization 
by  forming  Bellamistic  societies.  Those  who  were 
repelled  by  a  future  in  which  the  trusts  and  the 
State  were  merged  became  more  active  in  their  de 
mand  for  regulation. 

The  legislative  side  of  trust  regulation,  like  that 
of  railway  regulation,  was  made  more  difficult  because 
of  the  division  of  powers  between  Congress  and  the 
States.  It  was  an  interesting  question  whether  one 
State  could  control  a  monopoly  as  large  as  the  na 
tion.  But  the  States  passed  anti-trust  laws  by  the 
score,  as  they  had  passed  the  railway  laws.  As  in 
the  earlier  case  they  found  their  model  in  the  com 
mon  law,  which  had  long  prohibited  conspiracies  in 
restraint  of  trade.  One  of  the  States,  Ohio,  with 
only  the  common  law  to  go  upon,  brought  suit 
against  the  Standard  Oil  Trust  and  secured  a  pro 
hibition  against  it  in  1892.  It  was  relatively  easy  to 
attack  the  formal  organization  of  the  trust,  but  in 
spite  of  such  attacks  concentration  continued  to  pro 
duce  ever  greater  combinations,  as  though  it  were 
fulfilling  some  fundamental  economic  law. 

Those  of  the  anti-monopolists  who  were  also  tariff 
reformers  had  a  weapon  to  urge  besides  that  of  reg 
ulation.  They  maintained  that  part  of  the  power  of 


NATIONAL  BUSINESS  169 

the  corporations  was  due  to  the  needless  favors  of 
protection,  which  deprived  the  United  States  of  the 
aid  that  competition  from  European  manufacturers 
might  have  given.  They  insisted  that  a  revision  of 
the  tariff  would  do  much  to  remove  the  burden  of 
the  trusts.  The  House  ordered  an  investigation  of  the 
trusts  while  it  was  engaged  on  the  futile  Mills  Bill 
in  1888,  but  it  was  the  latter  that  furnished  the  text 
for  the  ensuing  presidential  campaign. 

So  far  as  the  parties  were  concerned  the  Repub- 
licans  took  the  aggressive  in  1888.  Cleveland's  em 
phasis  upon  tariff  reduction  was  personal  and  never 
had  the  cheerful  support  of  the  whole  party.  The 
manufacturers,  however,  were  thoroughly  scared  by 
the  continued  threats  of  revision.  As  they  had  come, 
by  supporting  the  party  in  power,  to  support  the 
Republicans,  so  they  now  organized  within  that  party 
to  save  themselves.  Their  leaders  sang  a  new  note 
in  1888,  no  longer  apologizing  for  the  tariff  or  urg 
ing  reduction,  but  defending  it  on  principle,  —  on 
Clay's  old  principle  of  an  American  system,  —  and 
asking  that  it  be  made  more  comprehensive.  From 
Florence,  and  then  from  Paris,  Blaine  replied  to 
Cleveland's  Message  of  1887,  and  his  friends  con 
tinued  to  urge  his  nomination  for  the  Presidency. 
Only  after  his  positive  refusal  to  be  a  candidate  did 
the  Republican  Convention  at  Chicago  make  its 
choice  from  a  list  of  candidates  including  Sherman, 
Gresham,  Depew,  Alger,  Harrison,  and  Allison. 
The  ticket  finally  nominated  consisted  of  Benjamin 
Harrison,  a  Senator  from  Indiana,  and  Levi  P.  Mor 
ton,  a  New  York  banker.  The  platform  was  "  un- 


170  THE  NEW  NATION 

compromisingly  in  favor  of  the  American  system  of 
protection."  It  denounced  Cleveland  and  the  revi 
sionists  as  serving  "  the  interests  of  Europe,"  and 
condemned  "the  Mills  Bill  as  destructive  to  the 
general  business,  the  labor,  and  the  farming  inter 
ests  of  the  country." 

The  Democrats,  as  is  usual  for  the  party  in  power, 
had  already  held  their  convention  before  the  Repub 
licans  met.  They  had  renominated  Grover  Cleveland 
by  acclamation,  and  Allen  G.  Thurman,  of  Ohio,  as 
Vice-President,  and  had  indorsed,  not  the  Mills  Bill 
by  name,  but  the  views  of  Cleveland  and  the  efforts 
of  the  President  and  Representatives  in  Congress  to 
secure  a  reduction.  For  many  of  the  Democrats  the 
need  to  defend  tariff  reform  was  so  distasteful  that 
they  left  the  party,  blaming  Cleveland  as  the  cause 
of  their  defection. 

The  canvass  of  1888  was  not  marred  by  the  per 
sonalities  of  1884.  The  issue  of  protection  was  dis 
cussed  earnestly  by  both  parties,  Blaine,  who  re 
turned  from  Europe,  leading  the  Republican  attack. 
The  only  exciting  incidents  of  the  campaign  had  to 
do  with  the  "  Murchison  Letter  "  and  the  campaign 
fund. 

Matthew  S.  Quay,  whose  career  as  Treasurer  of 
Pennsylvania  had  not  been  above  reproach,  was 
chairman  of  the  Republican  campaign  committee. 
During  the  contest  it  was  asserted  that  he  was  assess 
ing  the  protected  manufacturers  and  guaranteeing 
them  immunity  in  case  of  a  Republican  victory. 
He  was  at  least  able  to  play  upon  their  fears  and 
bring  a  vigorous  support  to  the  protective  promises 


NATIONAL  BUSINESS  171 

of  his  party.  His  committee  circulated  stories  of  the 
un- Americanism  of  Cleveland,  charging  that  free- 
trade  was  pro-British,  and  making  capital  out  of  the 
pension  vetoes.  Toward  the  end  of  the  canvass  Sir 
Lionel  Sackville-West,  the  British  Minister,  fell 
into  a  Republican  trap  and  wrote  to  a  pretended 
naturalized  Englishman,  who  called  himself  Murchi- 
son,  that  a  vote  for  Cleveland  would  best  serve  Great 
Britain.  His  tactless  blunder  caused  his  summary 
dismissal  from  Washington  and  aided  the  Repub 
lican  cause  much  as  the  Burchard  affair  had  injured 
it  four  years  before. 

Harrison  was  elected  in  November  as  a  minority 
President,  Cleveland  actually  receiving  more  pop 
ular  though  fewer  electoral  votes.  He  came  into 
office  with  a  Republican  Senate  and  a  Republican 
House,  able  to  carry  out  party  intentions  for  the 
first  time  since  1883. 

Benjamin  Harrison  was  never  a  leader  of  his 
party.  He  had  a  good  war  record  and  had  been  Sen 
ator  for  a  single  term.  His  nomination  was  not  due 
to  his  strength,  but  to  his  availability.  Coming  from 
the  doubtful  State  of  Indiana,  he  was  likely  to  carry 
it,  particularly  since  the  Republican  candidate  for 
governor  was  a  leader  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic.  Harrison's  personal  character  and  piety 
were  valuable  assets  in  a  time  when  party  leaders 
were  under  fire.  Once  in  office  he  had  a  cold  abrupt 
ness  that  made  it  easy  to  lose  the  support  of  asso 
ciates  who  felt  that  their  own  importance  was  greater 
than  his. 

Blaine,  the  greatest  of  these  associates,  became 


172  THE  NEW  NATION 

Secretary  of  State,  and  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of 
meeting  the  Pan-American  Congress  that  he  had 
called  eight  years  before.  In  his  interest  in  larger 
American  affairs  he  lost  some  of  his  keenness  as  a 
protectionist  and  acquired  a  zeal  for  foreign  trade. 
With  England  he  had  another  unsuccessful  tilt,  this 
time  over  the  seals  of  Bering  Sea. 

In  some  of  the  appointments  Harrison  paid  the 
party  debts.  Windom  came  back  to  the  Treasury, 
although  ex-Senator  Platt,  of  New  York,  claimed 
that  he  had  been  promised  it.  John  Wanamaker, 
who  had  raised  large  sums  in  Philadelphia  to  aid 
Quay  in  the  campaign,  became  Postmaster-General. 
The  Pension  Bureau,  important  through  the  alliance 
with  the  soldiers,  went  to  a  leader  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  one  "Corporal"  Tanner, 
whose  most  famous  utterance  related  to  his  inten 
tions  :  "  God  save  the  surplus  !  " 

The  Fifty-first  Congress,  convening  in  December, 
1889,  took  up  with  enthusiasm  the  mandate  of  the 
election,  as  the  Republicans  saw  it,  to  revise  the 
tariff  in  the  interest  of  protection.  It  chose  as  Speaker 
Thomas  B.  Reed,  of  Maine,  and  revised  its  rules  so 
as  to  expedite  legislation.  William  McKinley  pre 
pared  a  revision  of  the  tariff  in  the  House,  while 
another  Ohioan,  John  Sherman,  took  up  the  matter 
of  the  trusts  in  the  Senate. 

The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  was  enacted  in 
July,  1890,  after  nearly  ten  years  of  general  discus 
sion.  Although  formulated  by  Republicans  —  Sher 
man,  Edmunds,  and  Hoar  —  it  was  not  more  dis 
tinctly  a  party  measure  than  the  Interstate  Commerce 


NATIONAL  BUSINESS  173 

Act  had  been.  It  relied  upon  the  interstate  commerce 
clause  of  the  Constitution  as  its  authority  to  declare 
illegal  "  every  contract,  combination  in  the  form  of 
trust  or  otherwise,  or  conspiracy,  in  restraint  of  com 
merce  among  the  several  States,  or  with  foreign  na 
tions,"  and  it  provided  suitable  penalties  for  violation. 
The  most  significant  debate  in  connection  with  it 
occurred  upon  an  amendment  offered  by  Representa 
tive  Richard  P.  Bland,  of  Missouri,  who  desired  to 
extend  the  scope  of  the  prohibition,  specifically,  to 
railroads.  The  Senate  excluded  the  amendment  on 
the  ground  that  the  law  was  general,  covering  the 
railroads  without  special  enumeration.  The  full 
meaning  of  the  law  remained  in  doubt  for  nearly 
fifteen  years,  for  few  private  suitors  invoked  it  and 
the  Attorneys-General  were  not  hostile  to  the  ordi 
nary  practices  of  business.  A  great  financial  depres 
sion  which  appeared  in  1893  acted  well  as  a  tem 
porary  deterrent  of  trusts.  There  was  a  suspicion 
that  the  law  had  been  intended  not  to  be  enforced, 
but  to  act  as  a  popular  antidote  to  the  McKinley 
Tariff  Bill  which  was  pending  while  it  passed. 

There  were  two  reasons  for  a  revision  of  the  tariff  in 
1890.  The  surplus,  still  a  reason,  added  $105,000,000 
in  1889,  and  continued  to  embarrass  the  Treasury 
with  a  wealth  of  riches.  Secondly,  the  election  of 
1888  had  gone  Republican,  and  party  leaders  chose 
to  regard  this  as  a  popular  condemnation  of  Cleve 
land  and  tariff  reform,  and  a  popular  mandate  for 
higher  protection,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  more 
Americans  voted  for  Cleveland  than  for  Harrison. 
A  third  reason,  alleged  by  the  opposition,  was  the 


174  THE  NEW  NATION 

necessity  of  fulfilling  the  pledges  given  by  Quay  and 
the  campaign  managers  to  the  manufacturers  who 
contributed  to  the  campaign  fund,  —  manufacturers 
who  were  parodied  as  "  Mary  " :  — 

"  Our  Mary  had  a  little  lamb, 
Her  heart  was  most  intent 
To  make  its  wool,  beyond  its  worth, 
Bring  56  per  cent." 

In  April,  1890,  McKinley  presented  his  act  "to 
equalize  the  duties  upon  imports  and  to  reduce  the 
revenues."  For  five  months  Congress  wrestled  with 
the  details  of  the  bill  and  the  issues  connected  with 
it.  In  June  it  rewarded  the  soldier  allies  of  the 
Administration  with  a  Dependent  Pension  Act  which 
granted  pensions  to  those  who  could  show  ninety 
days  of  service  and  present  dependence,  and  which, 
aided  by  the  previous  laws,  relieved  the  surplus  of 
$1,350,000,000  in  the  next  ten  years.  Early  in  July 
the  Anti-Trust  Act  was  passed.  Two  weeks  later 
Congress  paused  in  its  tariff  deliberations  to  pass 
the  Sherman  Silver  Purchase  Bill  at  the  demand 
of  Eepublican  Senators  from  the  Rocky  Mountain 
States,  who  wanted  their  share  of  protection  in  this 
form  and  were  so  numerous  as  to  be  able  to  produce 
a  deadlock. 

The  tariff  that  became  a  law  October  1, 1890,  was 
the  first  success  in  tariff  legislation  since  the  Civil 
War.  It  enlarged  protection  and  reduced  the  rev 
enue.  The  latter  was  done  by  repealing  the  duty  on 
raw  sugar,  which  had  been  the  most  remunerative 
item  of  the  old  tariff,  and  by  substituting  a  bounty 
of  two  cents  per  pound  to  the  American  sugar-grower, 


NATIONAL  BUSINESS  175 

which  further  relieved  the  surplus.  The  sugar  clause 
was  one  of  the  notable  features  of  the  McKinley 
Bill,  and  was  closely  related  to  a  group  of  duties 
upon  agricultural  imports.  There  had  been  complaint 
among  the  farmers  that  protection  did  nothing  for 
them.  The  agricultural  schedule  was  designed  to 
silence  this  complaint. 

Another  novelty  in  the  bill  was  the  extension  of 
protection  to  unborn  industries.  In  the  case  of  tin 
plate,  the  President  was  empowered  to  impose  a 
duty  whenever  he  should  learn  that  American  mills 
were  ready  to  manufacture  it.  This  was  an  applica 
tion  of  the  principle  that  went  beyond  the  demands 
of  most  advocates  of  protection. 

A  final  novelty,  reciprocity,  was  the  favorite 
scheme  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Blaine,  in  his  for 
eign  policy,  saw  in  the  tariff  wall  an  obstacle  to 
friendly  trade  relations,  and  induced  Congress  to 
permit  the  duties  on  the  chief  imports  from  South 
America  to  be  admitted  on  a  special  basis  in  return 
for  reciprocal  favors.  McKinley,  as  his  experience 
widened,  accepted  this  principle  in  full,  and  died  with 
an  expression  of  it  upon  his  lips.  But  in  1890  most 
protectionists  inclined  toward  absolute  exclusion,  re 
gardless  of  foreign  relations,  and  were  ready  to  raise 
the  rate  whenever  the  imports  were  large. 

In  the  passage  of  the  McKinley  Tariff  Bill  it  was 
noticed  that  a  third  body  was  sharing  largely  in  such 
legislation.  After  each  house  had  passed  the  bill 
and  disagreements  on  amendments  had  been  reached, 
it  was  sent  to  a  Joint  Committee  of  Conference 
whose  report  was,  by  rule,  unamendable.  In  the 


176  THE  NEW  NATION 

Conference  Committee  the  bill  was  finally  shaped, 
and  so  shaped  that  the  Republican  majority  was 
forced  to  accept  it  or  none.  The  party  leaders  who 
sat  on  the  Committee  of  Conference  were  a  third 
house  with  almost  despotic  power,  and  were,  as  well, 
men  whose  association  with  manufacturing  districts 
or  protected  interests  raised  a  fair  question  as  to  the 
impartiality  of  their  decisions.  The  Republican  re 
ply,  in  their  hands,  to  the  assertion  that  the  tariff 
was  the  mother  of  trusts  was  to  raise  the  tariff  still 
higher  and  to  forbid  the  trusts  to  engage  in  inter 
state  commerce. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  Life  of  Henry  Demarest  Lloyd,  by  C.  Lloyd  (2  vols., 
1912)  contains  an  admirable  and  sympathetic  survey  of  the 
growth  of  anti-trust  feeling,  and  should  be  supplemented  by 
the  writings  of  H.  D.  Lloyd,  more  particularly,  "  The  Story  of 
a  Great  Monopoly"  (in  Atlantic  Monthly,  March,  1881),  and 
Wealth  against  Commonwealth  (1894).  The  philosophy  of 
Henry  George  is  best  stated  in  his  Progress  and  Poverty  (1879), 
and  is  presented  biographically  by  H.  George,  Jr.,  in  his  Life 
of  Henry  George  (1900).  The  most  popular  romance  of  the 
decade  is  based  upon  an  economic  hypothesis  :  E.  Bellamy, 
Looking  Backward  (1887).  J.  W.  Jenks,  The  Trust  Problem 
(1900,  etc.),  has  become  a  classic  sketch  of  the  economics  of 
industrial  concentration.  The  histories  of  the  Standard  Oil 
Company,  by  I.  M.  Tarbell  (2  vols.,  1904)  and  G.  H.  Monta 
gue  (1903),  are  based  largely  upon  judicial  and  congressional 
investigations.  The  Sherman  Law  is  discussed  in  the  writings 
and  biographies  of  Sherman,  Hoar,  and  Edmunds,  and  in  A. 
H.  Walker,  History  of  the  Sherman  Law  (1910).  For  the  elec 
tion  of  1888,  consult  Stanwood,  Andrews,  Peck,  the  Annual 
Cyclopcedia,  the  tariff  histories,  and  D.  R.  Dewey,  National 
Problems,  1885-1897  (in  The  A  merican  Nation,  vol.  24,  1907). 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE 

THE  Republican  protective  policy  had  its  strong 
est  supporters  among  the  industrial  communities  of 
the  East  where  the  profits  of  manufacture  were  dis 
tributed.  In  the  West,  where  the  agricultural  staples 
had  produced  a  simplicity  of  interests  somewhat  re 
sembling  those  of  the  Old  South  in  its  cotton  crop, 
the  advantage  of  protection  was  questioned  even  in 
Republican  communities.  The  Granger  States  and 
the  Prairie  States  were  normally  Republican,  but 
they  had  experienced  falling  prices  for  their  corn  and 
wheat,  as  the  South  had  for  its  cotton,  in  the  eighties, 
and  had  listened  encouragingly  to  the  advocates  of 
tariff  reform.  Cleveland's  Message  of  1887  had  af 
fected  them  strongly.  Through  1888  and  1889  coun 
try  papers  shifted  to  the  support  of  revision,  while 
farmers'  clubs  and  agricultural  journals  began  to  de 
nounce  protection.  The  Republican  leaders  felt  the 
discontent,  and  brought  forward  the  agricultural 
schedules  of  the  McKinley  Bill  to  appease  it,  but 
dissatisfaction  increased  in  1889  and  1890  through 
most  of  the  farming  sections. 

The  farmer  in  the  South  was  directly  affected  by 
the  falling  price  of  cotton,  and  retained  his  heredi 
tary  aversion  to  the  protective  tariff.  He  could  not 
believe  that  either  party  was  working  in  his  interests. 
The  dominant  issues  of  the  eighties  did  not  touch  his 


178  THE  NEW  NATION 

problems.  He  was  not  interested  in  civil  service  re 
form,  which  was  a  product  of  a  differentiated  society, 
in  which  professional  expertness  was  recognized  and 
valued.  He  knew  and  cared  little  about  administra 
tion,  and  being  used  to  a  multitude  of  different  tasks 
himself  saw  no  reason  why  the  offices  should  not  be 
passed  around.  In  this  view  American  farmers  gen 
erally  concurred. 

/  The  Southern  farmer  was  without  interest  in  the 
pension  system  and  was  prone  to  criticize  it.  The 
Fourteenth  Amendment  had  forced  the  repudiation 
of  the  whole  Confederate  debt,  leaving  the  Southern 
veterans  compelled  to  pay  taxes  that  were  disbursed 
for  the  benefit  of  Union  veterans  and  debarred  from 
enjoying  similar  rewards.  They  could  not  turn  Repub 
lican,  yet  in  their  own  party  they  saw  men  who  failed 
to  represent  them. 

In  the  North  agriculture  was  depressed  and  the 
farmers  were  discontented.  In  many  regions  the  farms 
were  worn  out.  Scientific  farming  was  beginning 
to  be  talked  about  to  some  extent,  but  was  little 
practiced.  The  improvements  in  transportation  had 
brought  the  younger  and  more  fertile  lands  of  the 
West  into  competition  with  the  East  for  the  city 
markets.  Cattle,  raised  on  the  plains  and  slaughtered 
at  Kansas  City  or  Chicago,  were  offered  for  sale  in 
New  York  and  Philadelphia.  Western  fruits  of  supe 
rior  quality  were  competing  with  the  common  varie 
ties  of  the  Eastern  orchards.  Here,  as  in  the  South, 
the  farmers  saw  the  parties  quarreling  over  issues 
that  touched  the  manufacturing  classes,  but  disre 
garding  those  of  agriculture. 


THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE  179 

It  was  in  the  West,  however,  that  agricultural  dis- 
content  was  keenest.  In  no  other  region  were  uniform 
conditions  to  be  found  over  so  large  an  area.  The 
Granger  States  had  shown  how  uniformity  in  discon 
tent  may  bring  forth  political  readjustments.  The 
new  region  of  the  late  eighties  lay  west  of  Missouri 
and  Iowa,  where  the  railroads  had  stimulated  settle 
ment  along  the  farther  edge  of  the  arable  prairies. 
Texas,  Kansas,  Colorado,  and  the  Dakotas  had  passed 
into  a  boom  period  about  1885,  and  had  pushed  new 
farms  into  regions  that  could  not  in  ordinary  years 
produce  a  crop.  Only  blinded  enthusiasts  believed 
that  the  climate  of  the  sub-humid  plains  was  chang 
ing.  In  good  years  crops  will  grow  as  far  west  as  the 
Rockies :  in  bad,  they  dry  up  in  eastern  Kansas. 

It  served  the  interest  of  the  railroads  to  promote 
new  settlements,  and  speculation  got  the  better  of 
prudence.  The  rainfall  cooperated  for  a  few  years, 
enabling  the  newcomers  to  break  the  sod  and  set  up 
their  dwellings  and  barns.  The  quality  of  the  settlers 
increased  the  dangers  attendant  upon  the  community. 

Under  earlier  conditions  in  the  westward  migration 
each  frontier  had  been  settled,  chiefly,  by  occupants 
of  the  preceding  frontier,  who  knew  the  climate  and 
understood  the  conditions  of  successful  farming.  The 
greater  distances  in  the  farther  West,  and  the  ease  of 
access  which  the  railroads  gave,  brought  a  less  capa 
ble  class  of  farmers  into  the  plains  settlements. 
Some  were  amateurs ;  others  knew  a  different  type 
of  agriculture.  The  population  which  had  to  deal 
with  this  new  region  was  less  likely  to  succeed  than 
that  of  any  previous  frontier. 


180  THE  NEW  NATION 

The  frontier  of  the  eighties  presented  new  ob 
stacles  in  its  doubtful  rainfall  and  its  experimental 
farmers.  It  contained  as  well  the  conditions  that 
had  always  prevailed  along  the  edge  of  settlement. 
Transportation  was  vital  to  its  life,  —  as  vital  as  it 
had  been  in  the  Granger  States,  —  yet  was  nearly  as 
unregulated.  The  Interstate  Commerce  Law  of  1887 
had  little  noticeable  immediate  effect.  Discrimination, 
unreasonable  rates,  and  overcapitalization  were  still 
grievances  that  affected  the  West.  The  new  activity 
of  organized  labor,  shown  in  the  Western  strikes  of 
1885  and  1886,  added  another  obstacle  to  the  easy 
prosperity  of  farmers  who  needed  uninterrupted  train 
service.  The  germs  of  an  anti-railroad  movement 
were  well  distributed. 

An  anti-corporation  movement,  too,  might  reason 
ably  be  expected  in  this  new  frontier.  Producing 
only  the  raw  products  of  agriculture,  its  inhabitants 
bought  most  of  the  commodities  in  use  from  distant 
sections.  They  were  impressed  with  the  cost  of  what 
they  had  to  buy  and  the  low  price  of  what  they  sold. 
They  were  ready  listeners  to  agitators  against  the 
trusts. 

Like  all  frontiers,  this  one  was  financed  on  bor 
rowed  money.  The  pioneer  was  dependent  on  credit, 
was  hopeful  and  speculative  in  his  borrowings,  built 
more  towns  and  railroads  than  he  needed,  and  loaded 
himself  with  a  mountain  of  debt  that  could  be  met 
only  after  a  long  series  of  prosperous  years. 

By  necessity  he  was  readily  converted  by  the  argu 
ments  of  inflation.  Greenback  inflation  had  run  its 
course,  and  after  the  resumption  of  specie  payments 


THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE  181 

in  1879  had  been  only  a  political  threat  without 
foundation  or  many  followers.  A  Greenback  party, 
affiliating  with  labor  and  anti-monopoly  interests,  had 
nominated  Weaver  in  1880  and  Butler  in  1884,  but 
even  inflationists  had  not  voted  for  the  ticket  in 
large  number.  A  new  phase  of  inflation  had  become 
more  interesting  than  the  greenbacks,  and  had  led 
to  the  demand  for  the  free  coinage  of  silver. 

Among  the  demands  of  the  Western  farmer,  whose 
greatest  problem  was  the  payment  of  his  debts,  none 
was  more  often  heard  than  that  for  more  and  cheaper 
money.  The  Eastern  farmer,  though  less  burdened 
with  debt,  knew  that  more  money  would  make  higher 
prices,  and  believed  it  would  bring  larger  profits. 
The  Southern  farmer,  heavily  in  debt,  not  so  much 
for  purposes  of  development  and  permanent  improve 
ments,  as  because  he  regularly  mortgaged  his  crop  in 
advance  and  allowed  the  rural  storekeeper  to  finance 
him,  was  also  interested  in  inflation  as  a  common 
remedy.  Together  the  farmers  of  all  sections  kept 
pressing  on  the  parties  for  free  silver  after  the  pass 
age  of  the  Bland- Allison  Bill  in  1878.  As  the  price 
of  silver  declined  the  gain  which  silver  inflation 
would  bring  them  increased,  and  they  were  joined 
by  another  class  of  producers  whose  profits  came 
from  mining  the  silver  bullion. 

The  silver  mines  furnished  important  industries 
in  Montana,  Idaho,  Colorado,  Utah,  Nevada,  Arizona, 
and  California,  and  were  highly  valued  in  most  of 
the  Western  communities.  As  their  output  declined 
in  value  after  1873,  their  owners  turned  to  the 
United  States  Government  for  aid  and  protection, 


182  THE  NEW  NATION 

not  differing  much  from  the  manufacturers  of  the 
East  in  their  hope  for  aid.  The  restoration  of  silver  • 
coinage  was  the  method  by  which  they  desired  their 
protection,  and  they  asserted  that  Congress  could 
coin  all  the  silver  and  yet  maintain  it  at  a  parity 
with  gold.  They  were  allies  with  the  farmer  infla 
tionists  so  far  as  means  of  relief  were  concerned, 
and  both  failed  to  see  how  incompatible  were  their 
real  aims.  The  miners  wanted  free  silver  in  order  to 
increase  the  price  of  silver  and  their  profits;  the 
farmers  wanted  it  to  increase  the  volume  of  money 
and  reduce  its  value.  If  either  was  correct  in  his 
prophecy  as  to  the  result  of  free  coinage,  the  other 
was  doomed  to  disappointment.  But  the  combined 
demand  was  reiterated  through  the  eighties.  While 
times  were  good  it  was  not  serious,  but  any  shock  to 
the  prosperity  or  credit  of  the  West  was  likely  to 
stimulate  the  one  movement  in  which  all  the  discon 
tented  concurred. 

The  crisis  which  precipitated  Western  discontent 
into  politics  came  in  1889  when  rainfall  declined 
and  crops  failed.  In  the  Arkansas  Valley,  with  an 
average  fall  of  eighteen  inches,  the  total  for  this 
year  was  only  thirteen  inches.  General  Miles,  who 
had  chased  hostile  Indians  across  the  plains  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  and  who  had  seen  the  new  vil 
lages  push  in,  mile  by  mile,  saw  the  terrible  results 
of  drought.  First  suffering,  then  mortgage,  then 
foreclosure  and  eviction,  he  prophesied.  "  And  should 
this  impending  evil  continue  for  a  series  of  years," 
he  wrote,  "  no  one  can  anticipate  what  may  follow." 
The  glowing  promises  of  the  early  eighties  were  fal- 


THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE  183 

sified,  whole  towns  and  counties  were  deserted,  and 
the  farmers  turned  to  the  Government  for  aid. 

The  Western  upheaval  followed  a  period  in  which 
both  great  parties  had  been  attacked  as  misrepre- 
sentative.  There  was  a  widely  spread  belief  that 
politicians  were  dishonest  and  that  the  Government 
was  conducted  for  the  favored  classes.  It  was  natural 
that  the  discontented  should  take  up  one  of  the  agri 
cultural  organizations  already  existing,  as  the  Gran 
gers  had  done,  and  convert  it  to  their  political 
purpose. 

Since  the  high  day  of  the  Granger  movement 
there  had  always  been  associations  among  the  farm 
ers  and  organizations  striving  to  get  their  votes. 
The  Grange  had  itself  continued  as  a  social  and 
economic  bond  after  its  attack  upon  the  railroads. 
There  had  been  a  Farmers'  Union  and  an  Agricul 
tural  Wheel.  The  great  success  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor  and  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  had 
had  imitators  who  were  less  successful  because  farm 
ing  had  been  too  profitable  to  give  much  room  for 
organized  discontent,  while  in  times  of  prosperity 
the  farmer  was  an  individualist.  A  new  activity 
among  the  farmers'  papers  was  now  an  evidence  of 
a  growing  desire  to  get  the  advantage  of  cooperation. 

The  greatest  farmer  organization  of  the  eighties 
was  the  Farmers'  Alliance,  a  loose  federation  of  agri 
cultural  clubs  that  reflected  local  conditions,  West 
and  South.  In  the  South,  it  was  noted  in  1888  as 
"  growing  rapidly,"  but  "  only  incidentally  of  politi 
cal  importance."  In  Dakota,  it  had  been  active  since 
1885,  conducting  for  its  members  fire  and  hail  in- 


184  THE  NEW  NATION 

surance,  a  purchasing  department,  and  an  elevator 
company.  In  Texas  it  was  building  cotton  and  woolen 
mills.  The  machinery  of  this  organization  was  used 
by  the  farmers  in  stating  their  common  cause,  and 
as  their  aims  broadened  it  merged,  during  1890,  into 
a  People's  Party.  In  Kansas,  during  the  summer  of 
this  year,  the  movement  broke  over  the  lines  of  both 
old  parties  and  had  such  success  that  its  promoters 
thought  a  new  political  party  had  been  born. 

Agricultural  discontent,  growing  with  the  hard 
times  of  1889,  had  been  noticed,  but  there  had  been 
no  means  of  measuring  it  until  Congress  adjourned 
after  the  passage  of  the  McKinley  Bill  and  the  mem 
bers  came  home  to  conduct  the  congressional  cam 
paign  of  1890.  They  found  that  the  recent  law  had 
become  the  chief  issue  before  them.  The  so-called 
popular  demand  for  protection,  revealed  in  the  elec 
tion  of  1888,  had  after  all  been  based  upon  a  minor 
ity  of  the  votes  cast.  The  tariff  and  the  way  it  had 
been  passed  were  used  against  them  by  the  Demo 
crats  and  the  Farmers'  Alliance. 

The  act  was  passed  so  close  to  election  day  that 
its  real  influence  could  not  then  be  seen  and  its  op 
ponents  could  not  be  confuted  when  they  told  of  the 
evils  it  would  do.  Before  the  election  of  1888,  as 
again  in  1892,  Republican  manufacturers  frightened 
their  workmen  by  threats  of  closing  down  if  free 
traders  won.  This  time  the  tables  were  turned  against 
them  by  the  recital  of  prospective  high  prices. 

Corrupt  methods  in  framing  the  schedules  fur 
nished  an  influential  argument  throughout  the  West. 
Even  in  the  East  the  tariff  reformers  asserted  that 


THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE  185 

undue  favors  had  been  done  for  greedy  interests ;  that 
manufacturers  who  had  bought  immunity  by  their 
contributions  to  Quay's  campaign  fund  had  been 
rewarded  with  increased  protection.  The  farmers 
believed  these  charges,  plausible  though  unprovable, 
for  they  were  disposed  to  believe  that  both  the  great 
parties  were  interested  only  in  selfish  exploitation  of 
the  Government  to  the  advantage  of  politicians. 

In  every  State  Republican  candidates  had  to  meet 
this  fire  as  well  as  the  local  issues.  In  Maine,  Reed 
met  it  and  was  elected  with  enlarged  majority  from 
a  community  that  wanted  protection.  In  Ohio,  Mc- 
Kinley  lost  his  seat,  partly  from  the  revulsion  of  feel 
ing,  but  more  because  the  Democrats,  who  controlled 
the  State  Legislature,  had  gerrymandered  his  district 
against  him.  Cannon,  of  Illinois,  who  had  already 
served  nine  terms  and  was  to  serve  ten  more,  lost 
his  seat,  and  LaFollette,  of  Wisconsin,  whom  the 
protectionists  had  made  much  of,  was  checked  early 
in  a  promising  career  because  of  an  educational  issue 
in  his  State.  Pennsylvania,  protectionist  at  heart, 
elected  the  Democratic  ex-governor  Pattison  again 
in  one  of  its  revulsions  against  the  Quay  machine. 

The  Democrats  defeated  the  Republicans  in  the 
East  while  the  Farmers'  Alliance  undermined  them 
in  the  West.  In  Kansas  and  Nebraska  the  Alliance 
controlled  the  result,  sent  their  own  men  to  Wash 
ington,  and  secured  the  Kansas  Legislature  which 
returned  the  first  Populist  Senator.  In  several  States 
fusion  tickets  were  successful  with  Democratic  and 
Alliance  support.  In  the  South,  Democrats  found  it 
aided  them  in  winning  nomination  —  for  the  real 


186  THE  NEW  NATION 

Southern  election  was  within  this  party  and  not  at 
the  polls  —  to  assert  that  they  were  and  had  been 
farmers. 

When  the  votes  were  counted  the  extent  of  the 
reaction  was  realized.  The  last  Congress  had  con 
tained  a  safe  majority  of  Republicans  in  each  house. 
The  new  Congress,  the  Fifty-second,  chosen  in  1890, 
had  lost  the  high-tariff  majority  in  the  lower  body. 
Only  88  Republicans  were  elected,  against  236  Dem 
ocrats  and  8  of  the  Alliance.  The  Republicans  re 
tained  the  Senate  partly  because  of  the  "  rotten  bor 
ough  "  States,  Idaho  and  Wyoming,  which  they  had 
just  admitted. 

The  greatest  factor  in  the  landslide  was  the  tariff, 
but  this  was,  largely,  only  the  occasion  for  an  outburst 
of  discontent  that  had  been  piling  up  for  a  decade. 
The  dominant  party  was  punished  because  things 
went  wrong,  because  the  trusts  throve  and  labor  was 
uneasy,  because  prices  declined,  because  there  were 
scandals  in  the  Public  Lands  and  Pension  Bureaus, 
and  because  the  rainfall  had  diminished  on  the  plains. 
The  new  House  elected  a  Georgian,  Crisp,  as  Speaker, 
and  the  second  half  of  Harrison's  term  passed  quietly. 
Among  the  people,  however,  there  was  much  conjec 
ture  upon  the  future  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance.  A 
convention  at  Cincinnati,  six  months  after  the  elec 
tion,  tried  to  unite  the  new  element  and  form  a  third 
party  of  importance. 

Union  between  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  the 
Farmers'  Alliance  for  political  purposes  was  the  aim 
of  the  promoters  of  the  People's  Party,  a  party  that 
was  to  right  all  the  wrongs  from  which  the  plain 


GULF 


THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE  187 

people  suffered  and  restore  the  Government  to  their 
hands.  Until  the  next  presidential  election  they  had 
time  to  organize  for  the  crusade. 

The  United  States,  by  1890,  had  begun  to  feel 
the  influence  of  the  agencies  of  communication  in 
breaking  down  sectionalism  and  letting  in  the  light 
of  comparative  experience.  Men  who  survived  from 
the  generation  that  flourished  before  the  war  found 
their  cherished  ideas  undermined  or  shattered.  In 
public  life,  administration,  literature,  and  religion 
the  old  order  was  being  swept  away.  The  United 
States  had  become  a  nation  because  it  could  not 
avoid  it.  Even  the  Congregational  churches,  with 
whom  parish  autonomy  was  vital,  had  seen  fit  to 
erect  a  National  Council.  Every  important  activity 
of  trade  had  become  national,  and  the  only  agency 
that  retained  its  old  localism  was  the  law,  which 
must  cope  with  the  new  order.  In  many  ways  the 
trust  problem  was  the  result  of  an  inadequate  legal 
system  which  left  a  wide  "  twilight  zone  "  between  the 
local  capacity  of  the  State  and  the  activity  of  the 
Nation.  Yet  the  Nation  was  unfolding  and  expand 
ing  its  powers.  Kailroad  control,  immigration  and 
labor  control,  agricultural  experiment,  irrigation,  and 
reclamation  were  only  samples  of  the  new  lines  of 
activity  that  created  new  administrative  machinery 
and  advanced  abreast  of  the  new  idea  of  appointment 
because  of  merit  and  tenure  during  good  behavior. 
Men  who  continued  to  see  the  center  of  political 
gravity  in  the  State  Governments  were  behind  the 
times. 

An  indigenous  literature  was  rising  in  the  United 


188  THE  NEW  NATION 

States.  Dickens  had  lived  long  enough  to  recognize 
the  spirit  of  a  new  school  in  The  Luck  of  Roaring 
Camp,  and  The  Outcasts  of  Poker  Flat,  which  ap 
peared  in  1868.  Before  1890  the  fame  of  their  author, 
Bret  Harte,  was  secure.  Samuel  Langhorne  Clemens 
(Mark  Twain),  too,  had  seen  the  native  field  and  had 
exploited  it.  The  New  England  school,  Emerson  and 
Longfellow,  Whittier,  Holmes,  and  Lowell,  lived  into 
or  through  the  eighties,  but  were  less  robust  in  their 
American  flavor  than  their  younger  contemporaries 
who  picked  subjects  from  the  border.  Tom  Sawyer, 
Huckleberry  Finn,  and  the  Connecticut  Yankee  were 
life  as  well  as  art.  Another  writer  of  the  generation, 
William  Dean  Howells,  gave  The  Rise  of  Silas 
Lapham  to  the  world  in  1885,  and  revealed  a  different 
stratum  of  the  new  society,  while  the  vogue  of  Little 
Lord  Fauntleroy  tells  less  of  the  life  therein  de 
scribed  than  of  the  outlook  of  American  readers. 

Pure  literature  was  in  1890  turning  more  and  more 
to  American  subjects ;  applied  literature  was  searching 
for  causes  and  explanations.  The  writings  of  Henry 
George,  particularly  his  Progress  and  Poverty, 
brought  him  from  obscurity  to  prominence  in  six 
years,  and  by  1885  had  "formed  a  noteworthy  epoch 
in  the  history  of  economic  thought."  The  success  of 
Bellamy's  Utopian  romance  proved  the  avidity  of  the 
reading  public.  Parkman  and  Bancroft,  of  the  older 
generation,  Henry  Adams,  McMaster,  and  Khodes, 
of  the  younger,  led  the  way  through  history  to  an 
understanding  of  American  conditions.  Economics, 
sociology,  and  government  were  beginning  to  have  a 
literature  of  their  own,  the  last  receiving  its  strong- 


THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE  189 

est  impulse  from  the  thoughtful  American  Common 
wealth  of  James  Bryce. 

In  the  field  of  periodical  literature  the  rising 
American  taste  was  supporting  a  wider  range  of 
magazines.  The  old  and  dignified  North  American 
Review  was  still  an  arena  for  political  discussion. 
During  1890  it  printed  an  important  interchange  of 
views  between  William  E.  Gladstone  and  James  G. 
Elaine,  on  the  merits  of  a  protective  tariff.  Harper's 
Monthly  and  the  Atlantic  had  given  employment  to 
the  leading  men  of  letters  since  before  the  Civil  War. 
Leslie's  and  Harper's  Weeklies  had  added  illustra 
tion  to  news,  making  their  place  during  the  sixties, 
while  the  Independent  held  its  own  as  the  leading 
religious  newspaper  and  the  Nation  appeared  as  a 
journal  of  criticism.  Scribners  and  the  Century  had 
been  added  more  recently  to  the  list  of  monthlies, 
the  latter  running  its  great  series  of  reminiscences 
of  the  battles  and  leaders  of  the  Civil  War  and  its 
life  of  Lincoln  by  Nicolay  and  Hay.  Improvements 
in  typography  and  illustration,  combined  with  greater 
ease  in  collecting  the  news  and  distributing  the  pro 
duct,  made  all  the  periodicals  more  nearly  national. 

The  periodicals,  in  a  measure,  took  the  place  as 
national  leaders  that  the  newspapers  had  before.  The 
newspaper  as  a  personal  expression  was  passing 
away,  as  the  great  editors  of  Horace  Greeley's  gen 
eration  died.  The  younger  editors  were  making  in 
vestments  rather  than  journalistic  tools  out  of  their 
papers.  Trade  and  advertisement  used  this  vehicle 
to  approach  their  customers.  News  collecting  became 
more  prompt  and  adequate,  but  the  opinion  of  the 


190  THE  NEW  NATION 

papers  dwindled.  They  bought  their  news  from  syn 
dicates  or  associations,  as  they  bought  paper  or  ink. 
The  counting-house  was  coming  to  outrank  the  edito 
rial  room  in  their  management. 

Through  the  new  literature  the  changing  nature 
of  American  life  was  portrayed,  and  as  the  life  re 
shaped  itself  under  nationalizing  influences  theology 
lost  much  of  its  old  narrowness.  Among  religious 
novels  Robert  Elsmere  was  perhaps  most  widely 
read.  The  struggle  between  orthodoxy  and  the  new 
criticism  had  got  out  of  the  control  of  the  professional 
theologians  and  had  permeated  the  laity.  A  revised 
version  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  gave  new  basis 
for  textual  discussion.  The  influence  of  the  scientific 
generalizations  of  Darwin  and  his  school  had  reached 
the  Church  and  forced  upon  it  a  rephrasing  of  its 
views.  It  was  becoming  less  dangerous  for  men  to 
admit  their  belief  in  scientific  process.  The  orthodox 
churches  lost  nothing  in  popularity  as  the  struggle 
advanced,  and  outside  them  new  teachers  proclaimed 
new  religions  as  they  had  ever  done  in  America. 

The  greatest  of  the  new  religions  was  that  of  Mrs. 
Mary  Baker  Eddy,  in  whose  teachings  may  be  found 
a  religious  parallel  to  the  political  revolt  of  the 
People's  Party.  Christian  Science  was  a  reaction 
from  the  "  vertebrate  Jehovah  "  of  the  Puritans  to 
a  more  comfortable  and  responsive  Deity.  It  was 
the  outgrowth  of  a  well-fed  and  prosperous  society, 
presenting  itself  to  the  ordinary  mind  as  "  primarily 
a  religion  of  healing." 

Intellectual,  spiritual,  economic,  and  political  re 
volt  were  common  in  America  in  1890,  as  they  must 


THE  FARMERS'  CAUSE  191 

have  been  after  the  industrial  revolution  of  the  last 
ten  years.  The  whole  nation  was  once  more  acting 
as  a  unit,  for  the  South  had  outlived  the  worst  re 
sults  of  war  and  reorganization  and  was  again  devel 
oping  on  independent  lines.  The  immediate  problem 
was  the  effect  of  the  revolt  upon  political  control. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  materials  upon  the  unrest  of  the  later  eighties  are  yet 
uncollected,  and  must  be  pursued  through  the  files  of  the  jour 
nals,  many  of  which  are  named  above  in  the  text.  The  new 
scientific  periodicals  :  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  Political 
Science  Quarterly,  Yale  Review,  Journal  of  Political  Economy , 
etc.,  devoted  much  space  to  current  economic  and  social  analysis. 
F.  L.  McVey,  The  Populist  Movement  (in  American  Economic 
Association,  Economic  Studies,  vol.  i),  is  useful  but  only  frag 
mentary.  The  materials  on  free  silver  are  mentioned  in  the 
note  to  chapter  xiv,  below.  A.  B.  Paine,  Mark  Twain,  gives 
many  cross-references  to  the  literary  life  of  the  decade.  J.  F. 
Jameson  discusses  the  fertile  field  of  American  religious  his 
tory  in  "The  American  Acta  Sanctorum"  (in  the  American 
Historical  Review,  1908). 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   NEW    SOUTH 

THE  Old  South,  in  which  two  parties  had  always 
struggled  on  fairly  equal  terms,  was  destroyed  during 
the  period  of  the  Civil  War,  while  reconstruction 
failed  completely  to  revive  it.  The  New  South,  in 
politics,  had  but  one  party  of  consequence.  With  few 
exceptions  white  men  of  respectability  voted  with  the 
Democrats  because  of  the  influence  of  the  race  ques 
tion  which  negro  suffrage  had  raised.  From  the  re- 
establishment  of  Southern  home  rule  until  the  advent 
in  politics  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance  no  issue  appeared 
in  the  Southern  States  that  even  threatened  to  split 
the  dominant  vote.  But  under  the  economic  pressure 
of  the  late  eighties  the  old  white  leaders  parted  com 
pany  and  even  contended  with  each  other  for  the 
negro  vote  to  aid  their  plans. 

The  political  influence  of  the  Alliance  cannot  be 
measured  at  the  polls  in  the  South  as  easily  as  in 
the  West.  In  most  States,  in  1888  and  1890, 
Alliance  tickets  were  promoted,  often  in  fusion  with 
the  Republican  party.  The  greater  influence,  how 
ever,  was  within  Democratic  lines,  at  the  primaries 
or  conventions  of  that  party.  Here,  among  the  candi 
dates  who  presented  themselves  for  nomination,  the 
professional  politician  found  himself  an  object  of  sus 
picion.  The  lawyer  lost  some  of  his  political  availabil- 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  193 

ity.  Men  who  could  claim  to  be  close  to  the  soil  had 
an  advantage. 

The  value  placed  upon  the  dissatisfied  farmer  vote 
is  shown  in  the  autobiographical  sketches  which  Sen 
ators  and  Representatives  wrote  for  the  Congres 
sional  Directory  of  the  Fifty-second  Congress.  Some 
who  had  never  before  held  office  stated  the  fact  with 
apparent  pride.  One,  who  appeared  from  the  Texas 
district  which  John  H.  Reagan  had  represented 
through  eight  Congresses,  announced  that  he  "be 
came  a  member  of  the  Order  of  Patrons  of  Hus 
bandry,  and  took  an  active  interest  in  advocating 
the  cause  of  progress  among  his  fellow  laborers ;  is 
now  Overseer  of  the  Texas  State  Grange  and  Presi 
dent  of  the  Texas  Farmer  Cooperative  Publishing 
Association."  From  Georgia  came  several  Repre 
sentatives  of  this  type.  One  "  has  devoted  his  time 
exclusively  [since  1886]  to  agricultural  interests, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance."  An 
other  was  elected  "as  an  Alliance  man  and  Demo 
crat."  A  third  "  was  Vice-President  of  the  Georgia 
State  Agricultural  Society  for  eleven  years,  and 
President  of  the  same  for  four  years;  he  is  now 
President  of  the  Georgia  State  Alliance."  A  fourth, 
Thomas  E.  Watson,  lawyer,  editor,  historian,  and 
leader  of  the  new  movement,  "  has  been,  and  still  is, 
largely  interested  in  farming."  A  South  Carolina 
Representative  covered  himself  with  the  generous 
assertion  that  he  was  "  member  of  all  the  organiza 
tions  in  his  State  designed  to  benefit  agriculture." 

The  agricultural  bases  of  the  Southern  political 
disturbance  lay  in  the  changes  in  tenure  and  finance 


194  THE  NEW  NATION 

that  had  recently  appeared.  The  South  was  not  with 
out  a  pioneer  immigration  resembling  that  of  the 
West.  Many  of  the  carpet-baggers  had  undertaken 
to  develop  farms  there.  There  was  much  opportu 
nity  for  rural  speculation  that  increased  in  attrac 
tiveness  as  the  area  of  free  Western  lands  diminished. 
So  far  as  this  went,  it  produced  a  debtor  class  and 
prepared  the  way  for  inflation. 

But  the  development  of  new  areas  in  the  South 
was  less  significant  than  the  method  of  its  industry. 
The  disintegration  of  plantations  continued  steadily 
through  the  seventies  and  eighties.  The  figures  of 
the  census,  showing  tenure  for  the  first  time  in  1880, 
and  color  in  1890,  exaggerated  this,  since  many  of 
the  small  holdings  there  enumerated  were  to  all  in 
tents  farmed  by  hired  labor  and  were  only  matters 
of  bookkeeping.  Yet  there  was  a  marked  diminution 
in  the  size  of  the  estates.  A  class  of  negro  owners 
was  slowly  developing  to  account  for  a  part  of  the 
diminution.  Frugality  and  industry  appeared  in 
enough  of  the  freedmen  to  bring  into  negro  owner 
ship  in  1900,  within  the  slave  area,  149,000  farms, 
averaging  55  acres.  There  were  at  this  time  2,700,000 
farms  in  the  South,  and  5,700,000  in  the  whole  United 
States.  Negro  renters  and  negro  croppers,  many  of 
whom  labored  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the 
white  landlords,  increased  the  number  of  individual 
farmers,  and  like  the  rest  lived  upon  the  proceeds  of 
the  cotton  crop  that  was  not  yet  grown. 

Much  of  the  capital  that  was  used  in  Southern 
agriculture  came  from  the  North  through  the  manu 
facturers  and  wholesalers  who  supplied  the  retail 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  195 

merchants  of  the  South.  These  merchants  advanced 
credit  to  their  customers,  measuring  it  by  the  esti 
mated  value  of  the  next  crop.  Once  the  bargain  had 
been  struck,  the  farmer  bought  all  his  supplies  from 
his  banker-merchant,  paying  such  prices  as  the  latter 
saw  fit  to  charge.  There  could  be  little  competition 
among  merchants  under  this  system,  since  the  bur 
den  of  his  debt  kept  the  planter  from  seeking  the 
cheapest  market.  The  double  weight  of  extortionate 
prices  and  heavy  interest  impressed  a  large  section 
of  the  South  with  the  scarcity  of  cash  and  the  evils 
of  existing  finance. 

In  agricultural  method  as  well  as  in  finance  the 
South  was  oppressed  by  its  system.  The  merchant 
wanted  cotton,  for  cotton  was  marketable,  and  could 
not  be  consumed  by  a  tricky  debtor.  Single  cropping 
was  thus  unduly  encouraged ;  diversified  agriculture 
and  rotation  of  crops  made  little  progress.  The  use 
of  commercial  fertilizers  was  greatly  stimulated,  but 
agriculture  as  a  whole  could  not  advance. 

Tied  fast  to  a  system  nearly  as  inflexible  as  that 
of  the  ante-bellum  plantation,  the  South  suffered  dis 
proportionately  in  years  when  cotton  was  low.  De 
pression  in  the  later  eighties  and  the  early  nineties 
intensified  the  suffering  of  the  debtor  class  and  pro 
duced  an  inflation  movement  that  allied  the  South 
and  West  in  the  demand  for  cheaper  money  and 
more  of  it.  The  Farmers'  Alliance,  with  its  demands 
for  railroad  control,  trust  regulation,  banking  reform, 
and  free  silver,  was  the  logical  vehicle  for  the  ex 
pression  of  Southern  discontent. 

The  white  population    of   the    South,  undivided 


196  THE  NEW  NATION 

since  the  Civil  War,  was  confronted  in  1890  by  an 
issue  that  bore  no  relation  to  race  and  that  divided 
society  into  debtor  and  creditor  classes.  For  twenty 
years,  by  common  agreement  in  which  the  North 
had  tacitly  concurred,  the  negro  had  been  suppressed 
outside  the  law.  Occasional  negroes  had  got  into 
office  and  even  to  Congress  in  reconstruction  days. 
One,  who  described  himself  as  "  a  bright  mulatto," 
sat  in  the  Fifty-first  and  Fifty-second  Congresses, 
but  in  most  regions  of  the  South  the  negro  had  not 
been  allowed  to  vote  or  had  been  "  counted  out "  at 
the  polls,  while  only  in  sporadic  cases,  mostly  in  the 
mountain  sections,  was  the  Republican  party  able  to 
get  enough  votes  to  elect  its  candidates. 

The  Farmers'  Alliance  split  the  white  vote  and 
gave  to  the  negro  an  unusual  power.  From  being 
suppressed  by  all  to  being  courted  by  many  involved 
a  change  that  raised  his  hopes  only  to  destroy  them. 
The  South  no  sooner  saw  the  possibility  that  the 
negro  vote  might  hold  a  balance  of  power  between 
two  equal  white  factions  than  it  took  steps  to  remove 
itself  from  temptation  and  to  disfranchise  the  un- 
desired  class. 

The  purpose  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth 
Amendments  had  been  to  raise  the  freedmen  to  civil 
equality  and  protect  them  there.  Pursuant  to  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment,  Congress  passed,  in  1875, 
a  Civil  Rights  Bill,  which  forbade  discrimination 
against  any  citizen  in  "  the  full  and  equal  enjoy 
ment  of  the  accommodations,  advantages,  facilities, 
and  privileges  of  inns,  public  conveyances  on  land 
or  water,  theaters,  and  other  places  of  public  amuse- 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  197 

ment."  It  was  restrained  from  imposing  coeducation 
of  the  races  only  by  Northern  philanthropists  who 
were  interested  in  Southern  education.  Its  compul 
sion  was  disregarded  at  the  South,  where  social 
equality  between  the  races  could  not  be  attained. 
Innkeepers  and  railroads  continued  to  separate  their 
customers,  and  in  time  a  few  of  them  were  haled 
into  court  to  answer  for  violating  the  law.  Their 
defense  was  that  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  for 
bade  discrimination  by  the  States,  but  did  not  touch 
the  private  act  of  any  citizen ;  that  it  protected  the 
rights  of  citizens,  but  that  these  rights,  complete 
before  the  law,  did  not  extend  to  social  relations,  — 
that  attendance  at  a  theater  is  not  a  civil  right  at 
all,  and  may  properly  be  regulated  by  the  police 
power  without  conflict  with  the  Constitution.  In  the 
Civil  Rights  Cases,  decided  in  1883,  the  Supreme 
Court  released  the  defendants,  ruling  that  the  Four 
teenth  Amendment  was  too  narrow  in  its  intention 
to  justify  Congress  in  the  passage  of  a  code  of  social 
relations  at  the  South.  This  part  of  reconstruction 
thus  broke  down,  leaving  the  negro  population  at  the 
discretion  of  its  white  neighbors. 

The  Fifteenth  Amendment,  too,  had  been  limited 
in  its  protecting  force  before  1890.  It  forbade  a 
denial  of  the  right  to  vote  by  any  State.  The  Su 
preme  Court  easily  determined  that  no  violation 
could  occur  when  a  hostile  mob  excluded  negroes 
from  the  polls.  It  had  been  settled  before  1890  that 
the  negro  was  defenseless  against  personal  discrimina 
tion.  It  remained  to  be  seen  whether  he  could  be  dis 
franchised  by  law  and  yet  have  no  redress.  Not  till 


198  THE  NEW  NATION 

the  South  found  some  of  its  people  appealing  for 
the  negro  vote  in  the  crisis  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance 
did  it  take  the  last  steps  in  the  undoing  of  recon 
struction. 

The  Fifteenth  Amendment  was  not  explicit.  In 
stead  of  asserting  the  right  of  the  negro  to  vote,  it 
said,  by  negation,  that  the  right  should  not  be  denied 
on  account  of  "  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude."  The  three  qualities  of  race,  color,  and 
servitude  separated  the  races,  but  the  South  learned 
that  they  were  separated  by  other  qualities  that  were 
not  proscribed  by  the  amendment  as  a  basis  for  the 
franchise.  The  negro  was  generally  poor,  and  any 
qualification  based  on  property  would  exclude  him. 
He  was  shiftless,  and  often  vagrant,  and  hence  could 
be  touched  by  poll-tax  and  residence  requirements. 
He  was  illiterate,  and  was  unable  to  meet  an  educa 
tional  test.  Tired  of  using  force  or  fraud,  the  South 
began  in  1890  a  system  of  legal  evasion  of  the  Fif 
teenth  Amendment. 

The  State  of  Mississippi,  in  a  new  constitution 
framed  in  1890,  defined  the  franchise  in  terms  that 
bore  heavily  upon  the  negro.  In  the  debates  of  its 
convention  members  talked  frankly  and  freely  of 
their  intention  to  disqualify  the  race;  the  clause 
bore  no  mention  of  discrimination.  It  permitted  per 
sons  to  vote  who,  being  male  citizens  over  twenty- 
one,  and  having  reasonable  residence  qualifications, 
had  paid  a  poll  or  other  tax  for  two  years  preceding 
th§  election,  and  could  read,  or  understand  and  in 
terpret  when  read  to  them,  any  section  of  the  con 
stitution  of  the  State.  Under  this  clause,  between 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  199 

the  cumulative  tax  and  the  large  discretionary  powers 
vested  in  the  officers  of  enrollment,  the  negro  elect 
orate  was  reduced  until  it  was  negligible  in  Missis 
sippi  ;  and  it  was  a  subject  of  admiration  for  other 
Southern  States,  which  proceeded  to  imitate  it. 

All  of  the  cotton  States  but  Florida  and  Texas, 
and  most  of  the  old  slave  States,  revised  their  elect 
oral  clauses  in  the  next  twenty  years.  Arkansas,  in 
1893,  based  the  franchise  on  a  one-year  poll-tax. 
South  Carolina,  in  1895,  used  residence,  enrollment, 
and  poll-tax,  while  the  convention  called  to  disfran 
chise  the  negro  passed  resolutions  of  sympathy  for 
Cuban  independence.  Delaware,  in  1897,  established 
an  educational  test.  Louisiana,  in  1898,  established 
education  and  a  poll-tax ;  North  Carolina,  in  1900, 
did  the  same.  Alabama,  in  1901,  made  use  of  resi 
dence,  registry,  and  poll-tax.  Virginia  based  the  suf 
frage  on  property,  literacy,  or  poll-tax  in  1902. 
Georgia  did  the  same  in  1908,  and  the  new  State  of 
Oklahoma  followed  the  Southern  custom  in  1910. 

It  was  relatively  easy  to  exclude  most  of  the 
negroes  by  means  of  qualifications  such  as  these,  but 
every  convention  was  embarrassed  by  the  fact  that 
each  qualification  excluded,  as  well,  some  of  the  white 
voters.  In  nearly  every  case  revisions  were  accom 
panied  by  a  determination  to  save  the  whites,  and 
for  this  purpose  a  temporary  basis  of  enrollment 
was  created  in  addition  to  the  permanent.  Louisiana 
devised  the  favorite  method  in  1898.  Her  constitu 
tion  provided  that,  for  a  given  period,  persons  who 
could  not  qualify  under  the  general  clause  might  be 
placed  upon  the  roll  of  voters  if  they  had  voted  in 


200  THE  NEW  NATION 

the  State  before  1867  or  were  descended  from  such 
voters.  The  "  grandfather  clause,"  as  this  was  im 
mediately  called,  saved  the  poor  whites,  and  was  imi 
tated  by  North  Carolina,  Alabama,  Virginia,  and 
Georgia.  The  governor  of  Louisiana,  in  1898,  sang 
the  praises  of  the  new  invention :  "  The  white  su 
premacy  for  which  we  have  so  long  struggled  at  the 
cost  of  so  much  precious  blood  and  treasure  is  now 
crystallized  into  the  constitution  as  a  fundamental 
part  and  parcel  of  that  organic  instrument,  and  that, 
too,  by  no  subterfuge  or  evasions.  With  this  great 
principle  thus  firmly  embedded  in  the  constitution 
and  honestly  enforced,  there  need  be  no  longer  any 
fear  as  to  the  honesty  and  purity  of  our  future  elec 
tions."  The  Supreme  Court,  in  Williams  vs.  Missis 
sippi  (1898), and  Gileses.  Teasley  (1903),  declined 
to  go  behind  the  innocent  phraseology  of  the  clauses, 
and  refused  to  overthrow  them. 

Before  the  courts  had  shown  their  unwillingness 
to  interfere,  Congress  had  done  the  same.  Two  meth 
ods  of  redress  were  discussed  during  the  years  of 
Republican  ascendancy,  1889—91.  One  of  these  con 
templated  a  reduction  of  the  Southern  representation 
in  the  House,  under  that  part  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  that  requires  such  reduction  in  propor 
tion  to  the  number  of  citizens  who  are  disfranchised. 
Although  urged  angrily  more  than  once,  this  action 
was  not  taken,  and  would  not  have  affected  cases  in 
which  the  denial  was  by  force  and  not  by  law.  To  meet 
the  former  situation  the  Eepublican  party  pledged 
itself  in  1888.  A  Force  Bill,  placing  the  control  of 
Southern  elections  in  federal  hands  was  considered. 


THE   NEW  SOUTH  201 

It  received  the  enthusiastic  support  of  Henry  Cabot 
Lodge,  and  was  the  occasion  for  another  waving  of 
the  "bloody  shirt."  It  passed  the  House,  with  the 
aid  of  Speaker  Reed,  but  in  the  Senate  was  aban 
doned  by  the  caucus  and  allowed  to  die  in  1891.  The 
South  was  left  alone  with  its  negro  problem.  In 
the  words  of  a  Southern  governor,  "  There  are  only 
two  flags  —  the  white  and  the  black.  Under  which 
will  you  enlist  ?  " 

The  New  South  removed  the  negro  from  politics, 
but  he  remained,  in  industry  and  society,  a  problem 
to  whose  solution  an  increasing  attention  was  paid. 
At  the  time  of  emancipation  he  was  almost  universally 
illiterate  and  lived  in  a  bankrupt  community.  North 
ern  philanthropy  saw  an  opportunity  here.  The  teach 
ers  sent  south  by  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  stirred  up 
interest  by  their  letters  home.  In  1867  George  Pea- 
body,  already  noted  for  his  benefactions  in  England 
and  in  Baltimore,  created  a  large  fund  for  the  relief 
of  illiteracy  in  the  destitute  region.  His  board  of 
trustees  became  a  clearing-house  for  educational  ef 
forts.  Ex-President  Hayes  became,  in  1882,  the  head 
of  a  similar  fund  created  by  John  F.  Slater,  of  Con 
necticut.  Through  the  rest  of  the  century  these 
boards,  in  close  cooperation,  studied  and  relieved  the 
educational  necessities  of  the  South.  In  1901  the 
men  who  directed  them  organized  a  Southern  Edu 
cational  Board  for  the  propagation  of  knowledge, 
while  in  1903  Congress  incorporated  a  General  Ed 
ucation  Board,  to  which  John  D.  Rockefeller  gave 
many  millions  for  the  subsidizing  of  educational 
attempts. 


THE  NEW  NATION 

The  negro  advanced  in  literacy  under  the  pressure 
of  the  new  influences.  In  1880  seventy  per  cent  of 
the  American  negroes  over  ten  years  old  were  illit 
erate,  but  the  proportion  was  reduced  in  the  next 
ten  years  to  fifty-seven  per  cent ;  to  forty-five  per 
cent  by  1900  ;  and  to  thirty  per  cent  by  1910.  As 
the  negro  advanced,  his  own  leaders,  as  well  as  his 
white  friends,  differed  in  the  status  to  which  they 
would  raise  him  and  in  the  methods  to  be  pursued. 
Some  of  his  ablest  representatives,  W.  E.  B.  DuBois 
among  them,  resented  the  discrimination  and  disf ran- 
chisement  from  which  they  suffered,  and  insisted 
upon  equality  as  a  preliminary.  Others,  like  Booker 
T.  Washington,  who  founded  a  notable  trade  school 
in  Alabama  in  1881,  worried  little  over  discrimina 
tion,  and  hoped  to  solve  their  problem  through  com 
mon  and  technical  education  which  might  lead  the 
race  to  self-respect  and  independence. 

Friction  increased  between  the  races  at  the  South 
after  emancipation.  Freedom  and  political  pressure 
demoralized  many  of  the  negroes,  whose  new  feel 
ing  of  independence  exasperated  many  of  the  whites. 
Southern  society  still  possessed  many  border  traits. 
Men  went  armed  and  fought  on  slight  provocation. 
The  duel  and  the  public  assault  aroused  little  seri 
ous  criticism  even  in  the  eighties,  and  the  freedmen 
lived  in  a  society  in  which  self-restraint  had  never 
been  the  dominant  virtue.  In  Alabama,  in  1880,  the 
assessed  value  of  guns,  dirks,  and  pistols  was  nearly 
twice  that  of  the  libraries  and  five  times  that  of  the 
farm  implements  of  the  State.  The  distribution  of 
the  races  varied  exceedingly,  from  the  Black  Belt, 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  203 

where  in  the  Yazoo  bottom  lands  the  negroes  out 
numbered  the  whites  fifteen  or  more  to  one,  to  the 
uplands  and  mountains,  where  the  proportions  were 
reversed.  But  everywhere  the  less  reputable  of  both 
races  retarded  society  by  their  excesses. 

In  spite  of  its  unsolvable  race  problem  the  South 
was  reviving  in  the  eighties  and  was  changing  under 
the  influence  of  the  industrial  revolution.  Northern 
capital  was  a  mainstay  of  its  agriculture.  Transporta 
tion,  manufacture,  and  city  development  found  stim 
ulation  from  the  same  source.  In  1884  the  National 
Planters'  Association  promoted  a  celebration  of  the 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  export  of  the  first  Amer 
ican  cotton.  In  a  great  exposition  at  New  Orleans 
they  showed  how  far  the  New  South  had  gone  in  its 
development. 

In  the  twenty  years  after  1880  the  South  became 
a  modern  industrial  community.  Its  coal  mines  in 
creased  their  annual  output  from  6,000,000  tons  to 
50,000,000  ;  its  output  of  pig  iron  grewfrom  397,000 
tons  to  2,500,000  ;  its  manufactures  rose  in  annual 
value  from  $338,000,000  to  11,173,000,000,  with  a 
pay  roll  swelling  from  176,000,000  to  $350,000,000. 
The  spindles  in  its  cotton  mills  were  increased  from 
610,000  to  4,298,000.  With  the  industrial  changes 
there  came  a  shifting  of  Southern  population.  The 
census  maps  show  a  tendency  in  the  black  population 
to  concentrate  in  the  Black  Belt,  and  in  the  white 
population  to  increase  near  the  deposits  of  coal  and 
iron.  Factory  towns  appeared  in  the  Piedmont,  where 
cheap  power  could  be  obtained,  and  drew  their  oper 
atives  from  the  rural  population  of  the  neighbor- 


204  THE  NEW  NATION 

hood.  Unembarrassed  by  the  child-labor  and  factory 
laws  of  the  North,  the  new  Southern  mills  exploited 
the  women  and  children,  and  were  consuming  one 
seventh  of  the  cotton  crop  by  1900.  In  Alabama, 
Birmingham  became  a  second  Pittsburg. 

The  Southern  railway  system  was  completely  re 
built  after  the  Civil  War.  In  1860  it  included  about 
one  third  of  the  thirty  thousand  miles  of  track  in  the 
United  States,  but  war  and  neglect  reduced  it  to 
ruin.  Partly  under  federal  auspices  it  was  restored 
in  the  later  sixties.  After  187 8  it  suddenly  expanded 
as  did  all  the  American  railway  systems. 

Texas  experienced  the  most  thorough  change  in 
the  fifty  years  after  the  Civil  War.  From  307  miles 
her  railways  expanded  to  more  than  14,000  miles. 
Only  one  of  the  Confederate  States,  Arkansas,  had 
a  slighter  mileage  in  1860,  but  in  1910  no  one  had 
half  as  much  as  Texas.  The  totals  for  the  Confed 
erate  area  rose  from  11,000  miles  in  1870  to  17,000 
in  1880,  to  36,000  in  1890,  to  45,000  in  1900,  and 
to  63,000  in  1910.  After  1880  no  Confederate  State 
equaled  Texas,  whose  vast  area,  suddenly  brought 
within  reach  of  railway  service,  poured  forth  cotton 
until  by  the  end  of  the  century  she  alone  raised  one 
fourth  of  the  American  crop.  Through  the  expand 
ing  transportation  system  the  area  of  profitable  cot 
ton  culture  rose  more  rapidly  than  the  demand  for 
cotton,  and  in  overproduction  may  be  found  one  of 
the  reasons  for  the  decline  in  cotton  values  in  the 
early  nineties.  In  the  decline  may  be  found  an  in 
centive  toward  diversified  agriculture.  When  cotton 
went  down,  farmers  tried  other  crops.  The  corn 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  205 

acreage  in  the  ten  cotton  States  passed  the  cotton 
acreage  before  1899,  and  with  the  diversification 
came  no  decrease  in  the  total  cotton  output,  but  an 
increase  in  general  agricultural  prosperity.  In  many 
regions  fruit  culture  and  truck-raising  forced  their 
way  to  the  front  among  profitable  types  of  agricul 
ture. 

In  spite  of  the  changes  in  industry  and  transpor 
tation  the  South  remained  in  1910  a  rural  commu 
nity  when  compared  with  the  rest  of  the  United 
States.  Out  of  114  cities  of  50,000  population  in 
1910,  only  15  were  in  the  Confederate  area.  But 
when  compared  with  its  own  past  the  South  was  de 
veloping  cities  at  a  rapid  rate.  Only  New  Orleans 
and  Richmond,  in  1880,  had  50,000  inhabitants. 
Atlanta,  Charleston,  Memphis,  and  Nashville  were 
added  to  this  class  by  1890.  Texas  had  no  city  of 
this  size  until  1900.  But  in  1910  she  possessed 
four,  Dallas,  Forth  Worth,  Houston,  and  San  An 
tonio.  As  the  cities  increased  in  number,  bound  to 
gether,  and  bound  to  the  cities  of  the  rest  of  the 
United  States  by  the  ties  of  trade  and  society,  the 
localisms  of  the  South  diminished.  The  essential 
fear  of  negro  control  remained  untouched,  but  in 
superficial  ways  the  Southerner  came  to  resemble 
his  fellow  citizen  of  whatever  section. 

The  sectionalism  which  had  made  a  political  unit  • 
of  the  South  before  the  war  was  weakened.  In  the 
tariff  debates  of  1883  and  later  a  group  of  South 
ern  protectionists  made  common  cause  with  Northern 
Eepublicans.  Sugar,  iron,  and  cotton  manufactures 
converted  them  from  the  old  regional  devotion  to 


206  THE  NEW  NATION 

free  trade.  A  fear  of  national  power  had  kept  the 
old  South  generally  opposed  to  internal  improve 
ments  at  the  public  cost.  The  Pacific  railroads  had 
been  postponed  somewhat  because  of  this.  But  this 
repugnance  had  died  away,  and  in  the  Mississippi 
Kiver  the  United  States  found  a  field  for  work  that 
was  welcomed  in  the  South. 

The  Mississippi  never  fully  recovered  the  domin 
ance  that  it  had  possessed  before  the  war,  but  it  re 
mained  an  important  highway  for  the  Western  cot 
ton  States.  The  whimsical  torrent,  washing  away 
its  banks,  cutting  new  channels  at  will,  flooding 
millions  of  acres  every  spring,  was  too  great  to  be 
controlled  by  States  that  had  been  impoverished  by 
war  and  reconstruction.  In  1879  Congress  created 
a  Mississippi  River  Commission.  Unusual  floods  in 
1882  attracted  attention  to  the  danger,  and  there 
after  Congress  found  the  money  for  a  levee  system 
that  restrained  the  river  between  its  banks  from 
Cairo  to  the  Gulf. 

The  mouth  of  the  river,  always  choked  by  mud 
flats,  was  opened  by  the  United  States  in  1879.  A 
Western  engineer,  James  B.  Eads,  devised  a  scheme 
by  which  the  current  scoured  out  its  own  channel 
and  converted  itself  into  an  ocean-going  highway. 
He  had  already  proved  his  power  over  the  Father  of 
Waters  by  building  the  railroad  bridge  that  was 
opened  at  St.  Louis  in  1874.  In  1892  other  en 
gineers  completed  a  bridge  at  Memphis. 

The  active  development  of  the  New  South  less 
ened  the  difference  between  it  and  the  rest  of  the 
United  States,  and  brought  it  within  the  general  in- 


THE  NEW  SOUTH  207 

dustrial  revolution.  By  1884  the  trend  was  not  no 
ticeable.  By  1890  the  white  population  had  divided 
over  a  political  issue  like  the  North  and  West.  In 
the  years  immediately  following  1890  Populism  was 
as  much  a  problem  in  the  South  as  anywhere. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Most  of  the  books  relating  to  the  South  are  partisan.  The 
most  useful  economic  analyses  are  to  be  found  in  the  writings 
of  W.  L.  Fleming,  U.  B.  Phillips,  and  A.  H.  Stone.  Special 
points  of  view  are  presented  in  A.  B.  Hart,  The  Southern  South 
(1911),  E.  G.  Murphy,  Problems  of  the  Present  South  (1904), 
E.  A.  Alderman  and  A.  C.  Gordon,  Life  of  J.  L.  M.  Curry 
(1911),  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  A  Brief  Sketch  of  George  Peabody 
(1898),  J.  E.  Cutler,  Lynch  Law  (1905),  B.  T.  Washington,  Up 
from  Slavery  (1905),  W.  E.  B.  DuBois,  Souls  of  Black  Folk 
(1903),  and  J.  L.  Mathews,  Remaking  the  Mississippi  (1909). 
The  Annual  Cyclopaedia  is  full  of  useful  details.  The  Annual 
Reports  of  the  Peabody  Fund,  the  Slater  Fund,  and  the  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education  contain  statistics  and  dis 
cussions  upon  Southern  society.  The  Civil  Rights  Cases  (109 
U.S.  Reports)  give  the  best  treatment  of  the  legal  status  of 
the  negro,  and  are  supplemented  by  J.  C.  Rose,  "  Negro  Suf 
frage  "  (in  American  Political  Science  Review,  vol.  i,  pp.  17-43, 
—  a  partial  sketch  only),  and  J.  M.  Mathews,  Legislative  and 
Judicial  History  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  (in  Johns  Hopkins 
University  Studies,  vol.  xxvii).  There  were  interesting  ar 
ticles  on  the  New  Orleans  Exposition,  by  E.  V.  Smalley,  in  the 
Century  Magazine  for  April  and  May,  1885. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

POPULISM 

THE  election  of  1890  stunned  and  bewildered 
both  old  parties.  The  Republicans  lost  tneir  control 
of  the  Lower  House,  while  the  Democrats  paid  for 
their  victory  the  price  of  a  partial  alliance  with  a 
new  movement  whose  weight  they  could  only  esti 
mate.  Populism  was  engendered  by  local  troubles 
in  the  West  and  South,  but  its  name  now  acquired 
a  national  usage  and  its  leaders  were  encouraged  to 
attempt  a  national  organization. 

In  a  series  of  conventions,  held  between  1889  and 
1892,  the  People's  Party  developed  into  a  finished 
organization  with  state  delegations  and  a  national 
committee.  At  St.  Louis,  in  December,  1889,  the 
Farmers'  Alliance  held  a  national  convention  and 
considered  the  basis  for  wider  growth.    The   out 
come  was  an  attempt  to  combine  in  one  party  or 
ganized  labor,  organized  agriculture,  and  believers 
in  the  single  tax.  The  leaders  of  the  Knights  of  i 
Labor  and  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  were 
not  averse  to  such  common  action,  although  the  lat 
ter  preferred   their  own   Federation  to  any  party,    j 
The  dangers  of  political  action,  seen  in  the  decline    j 
of  the  National  Labor  Union  of  1866,  did  not  check   J 
the  desires  of  the  Knights  in  1889,  although  the    i 
leaders  found  it  easier  then,  as  later,  to  promise  the 


POPULISM  209 

support  of  organized  labor  than  to  deliver  it  at 
the  polls.  After  the  St.  Louis  Convention  the  name 
Farmers'  Alliance  merged  into  the  broader  name  of 
the  People's  Party,  though  the  attempt  to  win  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  unions  failed. 

In  December,  1890,  the  farmers  met  at  Ocala, 
Florida,  to  rejoice  over  the  congressional  victory  and 
to  plan  for  1892.  Since  each  of  the  great  parties  was 
believed  to*  be  indifferent  to  the  people  and  corrupt, 
a  permanent  third  party  was  a  matter  of  conviction, 
and  in  May,  1891,  this  party  was  formally  created 
in  a  mass  convention  at  Cincinnati.  Miscellaneous 
reforms  were  insisted  upon  here,  but  were  over 
shadowed  by  the  demands  of  the  inflationists.  James 
B.  Weaver,  of  Iowa,  the  old  presidential  candidate 
of  the  Greenbackers,  was  a  leading  spirit  at  Cin 
cinnati.  His  best-known  aide  was  Ignatius  Donnelly, 
of  Minnesota,  a  devotee  of  the  Baconian  theory  and 
of  the  "  Lost  Atlantis,"  who  was  now  devoting  his 
active  mind  to  the  support  of  free  silver.  A  national 
committee  was  created  after  another  meeting,  at  St. 
Louis  in  February,  1892,  and  on  July  2,  1892,  the 
party  met  in  that  city  in  its  first  national  nominat 
ing  convention. 

The  platform  of  the  People's  Party  was  based  on 
calamity.  "  We  meet  in  the  midst  of  a  nation  brought 
to  the  verge  of  moral,  political,  and  material  ruin," 
it  declared.  "  Corruption  dominates  the  ballot-box, 
the  legislature,  the  Congress,  and  touches  even  the 
ermine  of  the  bench.  The  people  are  demoralized. 
.  .  .  The  newspapers  are  largely  subsidized  or  muz 
zled  ;  public  opinion  silenced ;  business  prostrated ; 


210  THE  NEW  NATION 

our  homes  covered  with  mortgages ;  labor  impover 
ished  ;  and  the  land  concentrating  in  the  hands  of  the 
capitalists." 

The  greatest  of  the  evils  in  sight  was  "  the  vast 
conspiracy  against  mankind,"  which  had  demone 
tized  silver,  added  to  the  purchasing  power  of  gold, 
and  abridged  the  supply  of  money  "  to  fatten  usu 
rers."  To  correct  the  financial  evils  the  platform  de 
manded  "  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at 
the  present  legal  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one,"  and  an 
issue  of  legal-tender  currency  until  the  circulation 
should  reach  an  average  of  fifty  dollars  per  capita. 
Postal  savings  banks,  a  graduated  income  tax,  and 
economy  in  government  were  the  subsidiary  de 
mands. 

No  demand  of  the  Populists  attracted  so  much 
attention  as  this  for  free  silver,  but  its  platform 
touched  reform  at  every  angle.  In  the  field  of  trans 
portation  it  asked  for  government  ownership  of  rail 
roads,  telegraphs,  and  telephones.  It  asked  that  land 
monopolies  be  prevented,  that  the  public  lands  be 
in  part  regained,  and  that  alien  ownership  be  for 
bidden.  It  wanted  the  Australian  ballot,  liberal  pen 
sions,  restriction  of  immigration,  an  eight-hour  day, 
a  single  term  for  President  and  Vice-President, 
direct  election  of  United  States  Senators,  abolition 
of  the  Pinkerton  detectives,  and  was  curious  about 
the  initiative  and  referendum.  It  was  in  many  re 
spects  a  prophecy  as  to  the  workings  of  reform  for 
the  next  twenty  years. 

The  People's  Party  entered  the  campaign  of  1892 
with  this  platform  and  with  the  support  of  advanced 


POPULISM  211 

reformers,  with  a  considerable  following  in  the  West 
and  South,  and  with  James  B.  Weaver  and  James  I 
G.  Field  as  candidates.  Few  of  the  workers  for  its 
ticket  were  politicians  of  known  standing,  and  its 
voters  had  a  preponderance  of  youth.  In  several 
Western  States  the  Democratic  party  supported  it 
with  fusion  tickets.  In  the  South  it  often  cooperated 
with  the  Republicans.  From  the  first  the  third  party 
found  it  harder  to  stand  alone  than  to  unite  with  the 
weaker  local  party. 

The  disrupting  force  of  hard  times  was  increased 
by  the  acts  of  the  Republican  party.  Harrison's  first 
Congress  had  passed  a  series  of  laws  that  provoked 
opposition  and  criticism.  The  Interstate  Commerce 
Law  was  still  new  when  he  took  office.  In  quick 
succession  in  1890  came  the  new  States,  and  Okla 
homa  Territory,  the  Dependent  Pensions  Bill,  the 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Bill,  the  Silver  Purchase  Bill, 
and  the  McKinley  Tariff.  The  dominant  majority 
had  used  arbitrary  methods  to  enforce  its  will  and 
had  given  to  its  enemies  more  than  one  text.  After 
1891  the  Democratic  majority  in  the  House  reduced 
the  Administration  to  the  political  incompetence  that 
had  prevailed  from  1883  to  1889. 

Benjamin  Harrison  gained  little  prestige  as  the 
result  of  the  Administration.  He  had  been  nomi 
nated  for  his  availability,  and  the  campaign  songs  had 
said  as  much  of  his  illustrious  grandfather,  the  hero 
of  Tippecanoe,  as  of  himself.  His  appointments  had 
pleased  neither  the  politicians  nor  the  reformers, 
while  there  was  much  laughter  at  the  presence  in 
the  offices  of  numerous  personal  friends  and  relatives. 


THE  NEW  NATION 

The  most  notable  of  his  appointments  was  the  most 
embarrassing. 

James  G.  Elaine,  as  Secretary  of  State,  found  no 
topic  in  foreign  relations  as  interesting  as  the  canal 
had  been  in  his  earlier  term.  The  wranglings  with 
Great  Britain  and  Germany  over  their  treatment  of 
naturalized  Americans  had  subsided.  The  fisheries  of 
the  North  Atlantic  had  been  temporarily  settled  by 
President  Cleveland.  The  regulation  of  the  seal  fish 
eries  of  Bering  Sea  brought  no  new  glory  to  Blaine. 

There  was  no  doubt  that  the  seal  herd  of  the  Pa 
cific  was  being  rapidly  destroyed  by  careless  and 
wasteful  hunters  from  most  of  the  countries  border 
ing  on  that  ocean.  On  the  American  islands  the 
herds  could  be  protected,  and  here  they  gathered 
every  summer  to  mate  and  breed.  But  the  men  who 
hunted  with  guns  at  sea,  instead  of  with  clubs  on 
land,  could  not  be  controlled  unless  the  world  would 
consent  to  an  American  police  beyond  the  three-mile 
limit.  In  an  arbitration  with  Great  Britain,  at  Paris, 
Blaine  tried  to  prove  that  the  seals  were  American, 
and  entitled  to  protection  on  the  high  seas,  and  that 
the  waters  of  the  northern  Pacific  were  mare  dau- 
sum.  The  arbitration  went  against  him  on  every 
material  point. 

The  only  episode  that  threatened  war  occurred  in 
Chile.  Here  Harrison  had  sent  as  Minister  Patrick 
Egan,  a  newly  naturalized  Irishman  and  follower  of 
Blaine.  In  a  revolution  of  1891  Egan  sided  with  the 
conservative  party  that  lost.  His  enemies  charged 
him  with  improper  interest  in  contracts  and  with 
instinctive  antagonism  to  British  interests  in  Chile. 


POPULISM  213 

After  the  revolution  a  mob  in  Valparaiso  showed  its 
dislike  for  Americans  by  attacking  sailors  on  shore 
leave.  Egan's  extreme  demands  for  summary  pun 
ishment  of  the  rioters  were  upheld  by  Harrison,  who 
prepared  the  navy  for  war.  Finally  the  Chilean  Gov 
ernment  was  forced  to  make  complete  apologies. 

In  the  same  year  an  American  mob  in  New  Orleans 
lynched  several  Italians,  and  Blaine  repelled  with 
indignation  the  demand  that  indemnity  be  accorded 
before  trial  and  conviction.  He  could  not  even  prom 
ise  trial  because  of  the  helplessness  of  the  United 
States  in  local  criminal  proceedings.  The  Italian 
Minister,  Baron  Fava,  was  withdrawn  from  Wash 
ington  on  this  account,  and  returned  only  when  Con 
gress  had  healed  the  breach  by  making  provision  for 
the  families  of  the  sufferers. 

The  internal  relations  of  the  Administration  were 
not  happier  than  the  external.  Harrison  chafed  under 
the  influence  of  Blaine,  and  alienated  so  many  of  the 
regular  Republican  leaders  that  it  became  doubtful 
whether  he  could  secure  his  own  renomination.  Both 
Quay  and  Platt  had  been  offended,  and  the  former 
had  resigned  his  chairmanship  of  the  National  Com 
mittee  after  the  failure  of  a  political  bank  in  Phila 
delphia.  No  one  was  anxious  to  manage  the  Pre 
sident's  campaign,  and  he  showed  little  skill  in 
managing  it  himself.  The  future  was  still  in  doubt 
when,  on  June  4,  1892,  three  days  before  the  meet 
ing  of  the  convention  at  Minneapolis,  Blaine  resigned 
his  position  without  a  word  of  explanation.  Whether 
he  was  only  sick  and  unhappy,  or  whether  he  desired 
the  nomination,  was  uncertain. 


214  THE  NEW  NATION 

The  strength  of  Blaine  and  the  rising  influence 
of  William  McKinley  were  apparent  in  the  Repub 
lican  Convention.  Harrison  was  renominated  on  the 
first  ballot,  but  Blaine  and  McKinley  received  more 
than  one  hundred  and  eighty  votes  apiece.  The 
former  had  reached  the  end  of  his  career,  and  died 
the  next  winter.  The  latter  was  now  Governor  of 
Ohio.  McKinley  had  lost  his  seat  in  the  election  of 
1890,  but  had  been  raised  to  the  governorship  in 
the  next  year.  He  was  chairman  of  the  convention 
that  renominated  Harrison,  reaffirmed  the  "  Amer 
ican  doctrine  of  protection,"  and  evaded  the  issue  of 
free  silver. 

The  Democratic  party  had  bred  no  national 
leader  but  Grover  Cleveland  since  the  Civil  War, 
and  he  had  earned  the  dislike  of  the  organization 
before  his  defeat  in  1888.  His  insistence  upon  the 
tariff  offended  the  protectionist  wing  of  his  party, 
and  he  left  office  unpopular  and  lonely.  He  retired 
to  New  York  City,  where  he  took  up  the  practice 
of  law  and  regained  the  confidence  of  the  people. 
Demands  upon  him  for  public  speeches  in  1891  re 
vealed  the  recovery  of  his  popularity.  His  friends 
began  to  organize  in  his  behalf  during  1892,  and 
David  B.  Hill  aided  by  his  opposition. 

The  strength  of  Hill,  who  had  been  elected  Gov 
ernor  of  New  York,  and  who  was  now  Senator,  was 
based  upon  Tammany  Hall  and  those  elements  in 
the  New  York  Democracy  that  reformers  were  con 
stantly  attacking.  He  was  believed  to  have  defeated 
Cleveland  in  1888  by  entering  into  a  deal  with  the 
Republican  machine  by  which  Harrison  received  the 


POPULISM  215 

electoral  and  he  the  gubernatorial  vote  of  New  York. 
Early  in  1892,  as  interest  in  Cleveland  revived,  Hill 
called  a  "  snap  "  convention  and  secured  the  indorse 
ment  of  New  York  for  his  own  candidacy.  The  solid 
New  York  delegation  shouting  for  Hill  was  an  item 
in  Cleveland's  favor  at  the  Democratic  Convention 
in  Chicago.  With  tariff  reformers  in  control,  de 
nouncing  "  Republican  protection  as  a  fraud,  a  rob 
bery  of  the  great  majority  of  the  American  people 
for  the  benefit  of  a  few,"  and  reasserting  Cleveland's 
phrase  that  "public  office  is  a  public  trust,"  the 
convention  selected  Cleveland  and  Adlai  E.  Steven 
son,  of  Illinois,  as  the  party  candidates.  Its  coinage 
plank,  like  that  of  the  Republicans,  meant  what  the 
voter  chose  to  read  into  it. 

There  were  two  debates  in  the  campaign  of  1892. 
On  the  surface  was  the  renewed  discussion  of  the 
tariff,  with  the  Republicans  fighting  for  the  McKin- 
ley  Bill  all  the  more  earnestly  because  there  was 
danger  of  its  repeal,  and  the  Democrats  officially  de 
manding  reduction.  "  I  would  rather  have  seen  Cleve 
land  defeated  than  to  have  had  that  fool  free-trade 
plank  adopted,"  said  one  of  the  Eastern  Democrats 
to  "  Tom  "  Johnson  after  the  convention.  But  the 
Democratic  protectionists  were  forced  into  surly  ac 
quiescence  so  long  as  Cleveland  was  the  candidate 
and  William  L.  Wilson  the  chairman  of  the  con 
vention.  The  partial  insincerity  of  the  tariff  debate 
aided  the  Populists,  who  were  directing  a  discussion 
upon  the  general  basis  of  reform. 

Cleveland  was  elected  with  a  majority  of  electoral 
votes  and  a  plurality  of  popular  votes,  but  the  vote 


216  THE  NEW  NATION 

for  Weaver  and  Field  measured  the  extent  of  the 
revolt  against  both  parties.  The  Populists  carried 
Colorado,  Idaho,  Nevada,  and  Kansas,  gained  twenty- 
two  electoral  votes,  and  polled  over  a  million  popular 
votes.  Their  protest,  based  on  local  hard  times  and 
discontent,  probably  defeated  Harrison,  while  their 
organization  was  ready  to  receive  a  large  following 
should  the  hard  times  spread. 

Harrison  was  not  unwilling  to  surrender  the  Gov 
ernment  to  Cleveland  in  March,  1893,  for  he  had 
been  struggling  for  weeks  to  conceal  the  financial 
weakness  of  the  United  States  and  to  avoid  a  panic. 
The  great  surplus  that  had  been  a  motive  for  legis 
lation  for  more  than  ten  years  had  nearly  become  a 
deficit.  Continuous  prosperity  had  tempted  Congress 
to  make  lavish  appropriations.  The  McKinley  Bill 
had  reduced  the  revenue  through  changes  in  the 
sugar  schedule.  The  Pension  Bill  had  used  other 
millions.  Internal  improvements  had  been  distributed 
to  every  section.  The  surplus,  which  had  been  at 
$105,000,000  for  1890,  fell  to  $37,000,000  in  1891, 
and  in  the  next  two  years  to  $9,900,000  and  to 
$2,300,000.  In  the  spring  of  1893  the  Treasury  was 
so  reduced  that  any  unexpected  shock  might  cause  a 
suspension.  Cleveland's  first  duty  was  with  causes 
and  cures. 

The  surplus  had  been  affected  both  by  increase  in 
expenditures  and  by  decrease  in  revenues.  The  lat 
ter  had  been  due  in  part  to  the  hard  times,  which 
had  forced  a  curtailment  of  imports,  with  a  result 
ing  shrinkage  in  tariff  receipts.  At  the  same  time  an 
increasing  nervousness,  based  upon  the  deteriora- 


POPULISM  217 

tion  in  quality  of  the  assets  of  the  United  States, 
showed  itself.  The  fear  of  free  silver  was  hasten 
ing  the  day  of  panic. 

Silver  and  gold  had  always  been  traditional  Ameri 
can  coins,  but  since  1834  little  of  the  former  had 
been  coined  or  circulated,  while  between  1862  and 
1879  neither  variety  of  specie  was  ordinarily  used  as 
money.  In  1873  a  codification  of  coinage  laws  had 
omitted  from  the  standard  list  the  silver  dollar, 
which  had  been  unimportant  for  nearly  forty  years  ; 
and  when,  shortly  thereafter,  the  decline  in  the 
price  of  silver  made  its  coinage  at  the  ratio  of  six 
teen  to  one  profitable,  it  was  impossible.  The  de 
mand  for  a  restoration  of  silver  coinage  began  with 
the  silver  miners  who  desired  a  stimulated  market 
for  their  output.  Some  believed  coinage  would  raise 
the  price  of  bullion  ;  others  thought  the  Government 
would  keep  up  the  value  of  the  silver  coins,  as  it  did 
the  greenbacks,  by  redemption  in  gold.  In  1878  a 
Free  Coinage  Act,  pushed  by  R.  P.  Bland,  was  con 
verted  into  the  limited  Bland-Allison  Act.  Under 
this  the  Treasury  bought  the  minimum  amount  of 
silver  bullion  (two  million  dollars'  worth)  every 
month  for  twelve  years,  and  protested  continually 
that  the  silver  coined  from  it  was  increasing  the 
burden  of  redemption  on  the  gold  reserve.  As  the 
price  of  silver  fell  farther,  the  demand  of  the  miners 
increased,  and  toward  1890  it  was  reinforced  by  the 
demands  of  inflationists  who  desired  it  for  another 
reason. 

In  1890  the  free-silver  movement  was  not  political 
in  the  sense  that  parties  had  declared  for  or  against 


218  THE  NEW  NATION 

it.  In  each  great  party  it  had  supporters,  and  few 
politicians  were  actively  opposing  it.  A  movement 
in  its  favor,  with  the  support  of  the  Senate,  was  re 
shaped  under  the  influence  of  Sherman,  and  became 
a  law  in  July,  1890.  Under  this  the  Treasury  was 
forced  to  buy  4,500,000  ounces  of  silver  each  month, 
and  to  pay  for  it  in  a  new  issue  of  treasury  notes. 
For  the  next  three  years  the  United  States  kept  at 
par  with  gold  the  Civil  War  greenbacks,  the  Bland- 
Allison  silver  dollars,  and  the  treasury  notes  of  1890. 
Only  by  its  constant  willingness  to  pay  out  any 
form  of  money  at  the  option  of  the  customer  could 
it  prevent  the  Gresham  Law  from  operating  and  the 
currency  from  declining  to  the  bullion  value  of  silver. 
\  Every  creditor  feared  the  establishment  of  the 
1  silver  basis  because  of  the  loss  which  it  would  entail 
(upon  him.  His  dollars  would  shrink  from  their  gold 
lvalue  to  their  silver  value.  A  depreciated  currency 
was  bad  enough  when  unavoidable,  but  the  deliber 
ate  adoption  of  it  would  be  frank  repudiation.  Con 
tinually,  after  1890,  popular  apprehension  of  this 
grew  more  acute,  discouraging  the  undertaking  of 
i  new  enterprises  and  leading  to  the  insertion  of  "  gold 
I  clauses  "  in  contracts.  Gold  was  hoarded  whenever 
\possible.  The  receipts  at  the  New  York  Custom- 
House,  which  had  been  mostly  gold  before  1890, 
contained  less  than  four  per  cent  of  gold  in  the  win 
ter  of  1892—93.  As  the  Treasury  found  its  expendi 
tures  nearing  its  receipts,  and  the  proportion  of  gold 
in  its  assets  lessening,  business  men  were  badly  wor 
ried  over  the  future  of  the  currency,  and  an  actual 
limit  of  available  capital  appeared. 


POPULISM  219 

For  fourteen  years  there  had  been  prosperity  in 
the  United  States.  Financial  and  economic  disturb 
ances  had  been  relatively  slight,  and  every  year  had 
seen  a  greater  business  expansion  than  the  last.  In 
vestment  for  permanent  improvement  had  passed  the 
amount  of  annual  savings,  and  before  1893  the 
United  States  as  a  community  had  approached 
the  point  at  which  its  economic  surplus  would  be 
exhausted  and  an  enforced  liquidation  would  be 
due.  As  banks  curtailed  in  1893  to  save  themselves, 
stringency  became  general,  and  depression  turned  to 
panic.  In  April  the  gold  reserve  in  the  Treasury,  on 
which  the  whole  volume  of  silver  and  paper  de 
pended,  passed  below  1100,000,000,  which  business 
had  come  to  regard  as  the  limit  of  safety.  In  the 
summer  Great  Britain  closed  her  Indian  mints  to 
silver  and  that  bullion  dropped  farther  in  value. 
Before  July  there  was  panic  and  failure  everywhere 
in  the  United  States. 

Panic  had  been  imminent  before  Harrison  left 
office  and  remained  for  Cleveland  to  confront.  Al 
ready  Cleveland  had  taken  a  solid  stand  against  free 
silver  and  the  silver  basis.  He  saw  in  the  Sherman 
Silver  Purchase  Adt  the  most  striking  cause  of  dan 
ger,  and  summoned  Congress  to  meet  in  August, 
1893,  to  repeal  it,  while  he  maintained  the  gold  re 
serve  for  the  next  two  years  by  borrowing  on  bonds. 
For  the  first  time  since  the  Civil  War  his  party 
controlled  every  branch  of  the  Government,  yet  it 
now  met  an  issue  on  which  it  had  not  been  elected 
and  over  which  it  broke  to  pieces. 

An  angry  minority  opposed  the  Message  in  which 


220  THE  NEW  NATION 

Cleveland  described  the  financial  dangers  and  de 
manded  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  It  was  a 
sectional  minority  that  included  Western  Kepresent- 
atives  from  both  parties  and  many  Democrats  from 
the  South.  Men  who  had  fought  the  Populists  since 
1890  now  fraternized  with  them  and  raised  their 
strength  beyond  their  hopes.  The  President  refused 
compromise,  even  to  save  his  party  from  destruction, 
and  found  a  majority  for  repeal  among  Easterners 
of  both  parties.  The  Sherman  Law  was  repealed  in 
November,  and  the  liquidation  following  the  crisis 
was  effected  during  the  next  three  years. 

It  was  a  bad  beginning  for  tariff  revision,  to  split 
the  party  at  its  first  session  and  to  drive  into  opposi 
tion  those  Democrats  who  were  most  genuinely  in- 
f  terested  in  tariff  reform.    Cleveland   had  lost  his 
I  influence  with  Western  Democrats  before  the  repeal 
I  of  the  McKinley  Act  was  undertaken,  and  they,  like 
Ithe  Populists,  had  decided  that  he  was  the  tool  of  the 
corporations  and  the  "  gold-bugs  "  of  the  East.  The 
anti-corporation  feelings  of  the  West  were  increased 
by  the  accident  which  threw  the  corporations  and 
the  farmers  into  different  sides  upon  the  silver  ques 
tion. 

A  tariff  for  revenue  had  been  the  winning  issue 
in  1890  and  1892,  and  the  Democratic  organization 
was  pledged  to  pass  it.  When  Speaker  Crisp  made 
William  L.  Wilson  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Ways  and  Means  his  act  showed  an  intention  to  ful 
fill  the  pledge,  for  which  purpose  Wilson  brought  in 
his  bill  early  in  the  regular  session  of  1893-94.  Like 
previous  bills,  this  tariff  was  passed  in  the  House, 


POPULISM  221 

rewritten  in  the  Senate,  and  again  changed  in  confer 
ence  committee.  "  The  truth  is,"  confessed  Senator 
Cullom  long  after, "  we  were  all  —  Democrats  as  well 
as  Republicans  —  trying  to  get  in  amendments  in 
the  interest  of  protecting  the  industries  of  our  re 
spective  States."  The  surplus  was  no  longer  an  argu 
ment  in  favor  of  reduction.  The  free-trade  arguments 
were  flatly  contradicted  by  a  group  of  Democratic 
Senators  under  whose  leadership  the  bill  lost  most 
of  its  reducing  tendency.  Out  of  doors  the  Repub 
licans  attacked  the  measure  and  noisily  charged  it 
with  having  produced  the  panic  of  1893.  Fourteen 
years  later  a  Republican  President  still  described  it 
as  the  measure  "  under  the  influence  of  which  wheat 
went  down  below  fifty  cents."  When  it  finally  came 
to  the  President  it  was  so  little  different  from  the 
McKinley  Bill  that  he  denounced  it  violently.  He 
had  tried  in  vain  to  hold  his  party  to  an  honest  re 
vision,  and  now,  in  July,  1894,  refused  to  sign  the 
bill.  It  became  a  law  without  his  signature.  It  con 
tained  no  novelty  but  an  income  tax,  which  was  a 
concession  to  the  Populists  and  which  the  Supreme 
Court  soon  declared  to  be  unconstitutional. 

In  the  fight  over  the  Wilson  Bill,  Cleveland  af 
fronted  Eastern  members  of  his  party  as  he  had  the 
Western  members,  in  1893,  over  the  Sherman  re 
peal.  In  the  summer  of  1894  he  offended  the  whole 
body  of  organized  labor  by  intervening  in  a  West 
ern  strike. 

The  panic  of  1893  had  unsettled  labor  and  cre 
ated  a  floating  element  among  the  unemployed. 
These  drifted  toward  Chicago,  attracted  by  the  Co- 


THE  NEW  NATION 

lumbian  Exposition  held  there  during  that  summer, 
and  worried  the  police  for  many  months.  About 
Easter,  1894,  an  "  Army  of  the  Unemployed " 
marched  on  Washington  under  the  command  of 
Jacob  S.  Coxey.  A  few  weeks  later  a  strike  occurred 
among  the  employees  of  the  Pullman  Palace  Car 
Company.  The  American  Railroad  Union,  under  the 
leadership  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  established  a  sym 
pathetic  boycott  against  the  Pullman  cars.  The 
Knights  of  Labor  indorsed  the  strike,  and  railway 
travel  was  impeded  over  all  the  W^est.  Around  Chi 
cago  there  was  disorder  and  rioting  which  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Illinois,  John  P.  Altgeld,  did  not  suppress. 
He  held  the  militia  in  readiness,  but  had  not  inter 
vened  when  Cleveland  sent  federal  troops  to  Chicago 
to  remove  obstructions  to  the  carriage  of  the  mails. 
This  federal  intervention  offended  those  who  still 
adhered  to  the  doctrine  of  state  rights,  and  angered 
the  strikers  and  organized  labor  as  a  whole.  They 
believed  the  President  was  a  tool  of  the  railroads, 
and  believed  the  same  of  the  courts  when  a  federal 
judge  issued  an  injunction  to  Debs  forbidding  him 
to  interfere  in  the  strike.  In  the  end  the  strikers 
lost,  leaving  Cleveland's  conduct  in  maintaining  the 
peace  in  sharp  contrast  with  that  of  the  Populist 
Governor  of  Colorado,  who  intervened  in  a  great 
miners'  strike  at  Cripple  Creek  to  arrest,  not  the 
strikers  who  had  seized  control  of  the  mines,  but  the 
sheriff  and  his  posse  who  wished  to  dislodge  them. 
"  It  is  better,  infinitely  better,"  Governor  Waite  had 
declared,  "  that  the  blood  should  flow  to  the  horses' 
bridles  than  that  our  national  liberties  should  be 


POPULISM  223 

destroyed."  Congress  made  Labor  Day  a  legal  holi 
day  in  1894,  but  failed  to  placate  the  unions. 

By  the  summer  of  1894  Cleveland's  party  was 
split  beyond  repair,  and  his  friends  were  mostly 
among  the  Republicans.  Consistent  in  his  belief  in 
sound  money,  tariff  revision,  and  law  and  order,  he 
had  been  forced  by  events  to  alienate  the  West,  the 
East,  and  organized  labor.  His  course  had  aided  the 
Populist  party  by  widening  the  belief  that  the  Demo 
crats  had  no  interest  in  their  welfare.  The  panic  had 
aided  it  yet  more,  by  multiplying  the  discontented 
who  might  be  converted  to  the  new  faith.  Every 
month  the  Populist  party  increased  in  strength,  the 
East  watching  it  with  mingled  fear  and  contempt 
and  ignorance.  The  comic  papers  pictured  as  the 
typical  Populist  the  raw-boned,  booted,  unkempt 
farmer,  in  shirt-sleeves  and  with  flowing  beard.  It 
could  not  see  the  foundation  of  real  reforms  on 
which  the  movement  stood.  A  satirist  pictured  the 
Populist  as  "  The  Kansas  Bandit,"  declaiming 

"  The  People's  Party,  to 

Which  me  native  instinct  draws  me  because  it 
Loves  the  rule  of  mediocrity,  is  now  on  top.  I 
Love  the  rule  of  Ignorance." 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

F.  J.  Turner  discussed  "  The  Problems  of  the  West,"  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly  for  September,  1896,  and  C.  Becker  has  in 
terpreted  a  similar  point  of  view  under  the  title  "  Kansas  "  in 
the  Turner  Essays  (1910).  Wildman  and  McVey  are  valuable 
guides.  The  external  facts  of  the  Populist  movement  are  ac 
cessible  in  the  Annual  Cyclopcedia  ;  Stanwood,  History  of  the 
Presidency  ;  Annual  Reports  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ; 


THE  NEW  NATION 

and  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents.  Stan 
dard  writings  on  the  silver  problem  are  J.  L.  Laughlin,  His 
tory  of  Bimetallism  in  the  United  States  (1886,  etc.),  and  F. 
W.  Taussig,  Silver  Situation  in  the  United  States  (1893).  Use 
ful  details  are  added  in  the  biographies  of  Elaine,  Bland,  Sher 
man,  and  Vance.  W.  E.  Connelley,  Ingalls  of  Kansas  (1909), 
has  included  much  material  upon  Populism,  including  E. 
Ware's  satirical  verses,  Alonzo,  or  the  Kansas  Bandit.  Light  is 
thrown  upon  Governor  J.  P.  Altgeld  and  his  influence  in  the 
Democratic  party  by  B.  Whitlock, "  Forty  Years  of  It "  (1914), 
and  C.  Lloyd,  Henry  Demarest  Lloyd.  The  Memoirs  of  a  Varied 
Career  >  William  F.  Draper  (1908),  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  rigid 
protectionist  attitude.  A  stimulating  novel,  based  upon  muni 
cipal  politics  in  the  nineties,  is  P.  L.  Ford's  The  Honorable 
Peter  Stirling  (1894). 


CHAPTER  XIV 

FREE    SILVER 

SEKIOUS  students  of  finance  are  almost  unani 
mous  in  their  belief  that  the  adoption  of  free  silver 
would  have  brought  into  operation  the  Gresham  Law 
and  would  have  resulted  in  a  reduction  of  the  value 
of  the  dollar.  But  the  motives  which  divided  the 
United  States  were  less  economic  law  than  personal 
interest.  The  creditor  foresaw  the  shrinkage  of  his 
property,  and  feared  it.  The  debtor  saw  the  lighten 
ing  of  his  debt,  and  easily  convinced  himself  that  the 
ethics  of  the  case  required  such  relief  for  him. 

It  appeared  to  the  West  that  the  declining  prices 
of  the  eighties  had  been  due  not  so  much  to  over 
production  and  mechanical  invention  as  to  an  ap 
preciation  of  the  dollar.  The  silver  advocate  claimed 
that  the  money  supply  was  inadequate  to  the  demands 
of  increasing  business,  that  the  overworked  dollars 
were  acquiring  a  scarcity  value,  and  that  their  in 
crease  in  value  was  placing  an  unfair  burden  upon 
every  person  with  a  debt  to  pay.  It  was  the  old  atti 
tude  of  the  Greenback  Northwest,  brought  out  by  a 
period  of  debt  and  depression.  In  accounting  for  the 
scarcity  of  money  the  Act  of  1873  seemed  important 
to  the  West.  The  demonetization  of  silver  became  a 
crime,  and  justice  from  the  Western  standpoint  de 
manded  the  restoration  of  the  dollar  to  its  old 
value,  —  the  value  of  its  silver.  Before  1893  the 


226  THE  NEW  NATION 

discontent  was  serious,  but  had  not  come  to  be  the 
primary  interest  of  the  West.  Men  were  not  yet 
willing  to  leave  their  parties  for  the  sake  of  silver. 
The  panic  drove  them  to  the  final  step. 

Through  the  campaign  of  1892  the  major  parties 
had  dodged  the  issue  of  free  silver  by  adopting  eva 
sive  planks,  while  the  general  ignorance  respecting 
the  laws  of  money  prevented  the  evasion  from  being 
seen.  Until  1890  neither  organization  had  been  un 
favorably  disposed  towards  free  silver  and  Congress 
men  catered  to  the  movement  when  they  dared.  As 
its  accomplishment  became  more  probable,  the  selfish 
interests  that  would  be  adversely  affected,  and  the 
economists  who  saw  its  theoretical  danger,  and  the 
moralists  who  disliked  repudiation,  made  common 
cause  in  a  wide  campaign  of  education. 

With  the  exception  of  extreme  inflationists,  all 
had  declared  that  they  wanted  "  honest "  or  "  sound  " 
money,  and  both  parties  insisted,  in  1892,  that  all 
dollars,  of  whatever  sort,  must  remain  equal  in  value 
and  interchangeable.  They  insisted,  too,  that  silver 
must  be  used  as  well  as  gold,  and  neither  platform 
saw  that  the  demands  were  either  inconsistent  or 
improbable  of  realization.  The  pledge  of  equality 
pleased  the  creditor  East,  while  that  of  equal  use  of 
both  metals  satisfied  the  debtor  West  and  South. 

Bimetallism  was  a  cry  of  many  who  disliked  free 
silver,  yet  feared  that  a  demand  for  the  gold  stand 
ard  would  wreck  the  party.  As  long  as  the  traditional 
ratio  of  sixteen  to  one  remained  the  commercial  ratio, 
the  free  use  of  both  metals  was  theoretically  possible, 
but  the  experience  of  the  United  States  showed  that 


240,000,000 


Gold  and  Silver  Output 

of  the  World, 

1861-1911 

In  Ounces 


(Based  on  United  States  Statistical  Abstract, 
1912,  pp.  796,  797) 


20,000,000 


1861         1871 


1881         1891 


1901 


1911 


THE  NEW  NATION 

a  slight  variation  in  the  commercial  ratio  inevitably 
drove  the  more  valuable  dollar  into  retirement  and 
left  the  cheaper  in  use.  The  truth  of  Gresham's  Law 
was  believed  by  most  economists,  who  doubted  whether 
the  commercial  ratio  was  ever  sufficiently  permanent 
to  make  bimetallism  possible.  With  the  silver  de 
clining  rapidly  it  was  out  of  the  question.  If  the 
silver  in  circulation  ever  got  beyond  the  power  of  the 
government  to  control  it  through  redemption  in  gold 
nothing  could  avoid  the  silver  standard.  No  law  of 
the  United  States  could  prevent  it.  There  was  only  a 
bare  possibility  that  an  international  agreement 
always  to  regard  sixteen  ounces  of  silver  as  worth 
one  ounce  of  gold  might  establish  the  ratio,  but  to 
this  straw  the  bimetallist  turned,  trying  to  ward  off 
the  demand  for  free  silver  with  his  plea  for  interna 
tional  bimetallism. 

The  panic  of  1893,  the  decline  of  silver,  and  the 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  stimulated  the  activities 
of  those  who  believed  in  free  silver  and  produced 
formal  steps  to  bring  it  into  politics.  A  silver  con 
vention,  held  in  Chicago  in  August,  1893,  denounced 
the  "  Crime  of  1873,"  and  Governor  Waite  recom 
mended  to  the  Colorado  Legislature  that  it  open  a 
mint  of  its  own  for  the  coinage  of  legal-tender  silver 
dollars.  At  state  conventions,  in  1893  and  1894, 
both  parties  adopted  silver  planks.  The  Nebraska 
Democrats  rejected  such  a  plank  in  1893,  but  in 
1894,  after  a  caucus  of  free-silver  Democrats  in 
Omaha,  they  adopted  a  demand  for  the  immediate 
restoration  of  free-silver  coinage  "  without  waiting 
for  the  aid  or  consent  of  any  nation  on  earth." 


FREE  SILVER  229 

At  the  congressional  election  of  1894  the  Republi 
cans  regained  control  of  both  Senate  and  House 
and  many  of  the  silver  candidates  were  left  at  home. 
Some  thirty,  who  had  sat  in  the  Fifty-third  Congress, 
joined  in  March,  1895,  in  a  call  for  the  adoption  of 
free  silver  as  a  party  measure.  To  the  iniquity  al 
leged  to  exist  in  the  gold  standard  was  added  the 
aggravating  fact  that  its  defenders  had  wealth  and 
were  often  directors  of  corporations.  The  measure 
had  become  a  class  contest.  Its  textbook  was  found 
in  Coin's  Financial  /School,  a  little  book  with 
simple  dialogue  and  graphic  illustration,  that  popu 
larized  the  Western  view  of  free  silver  and  reached 
hundreds  of  thousands  with  its  apparent  frankness. 
Free  silver  had  by  1895  outgrown  the  Populists, 
and  had  overshadowed  other  measures  of  reform  be 
fore  either  party  had  taken  a  frank  attitude  respect 
ing  it.  "  I  have  been  more  than  usually  despondent," 
wrote  the  originator  of  the  Wilson  Bill,  who  had 
lost  his  seat  in  1894,  "  as  I  see  how  the  folly  of  our 
Southern  people,  in  taking  up  a  false  and  destructive 
issue,  and  assaulting  the  very  foundations  of  public 
and  private  credit,  are  throwing  away  the  solid  fruits 
of  the  great  victory,  solidifying  the  North  as  it  never 
was  solid  in  the  burning  days  of  reconstruction,  and 
condemning  the  South  to  a  position  of  inferiority 
and  lessening  influence  in  the  Union  she  has  never 
before  reached." 

When  the  Fifty-fourth  Congress  met  in  1895, 
Reed  was  again  enthroned  as  Speaker,  but  the  spread 
of  silver  sentiment  had  undermined  party  loyalty. 
Cleveland's  annual  Message  contained  the  usual  range 


230  THE  NEW  NATION 

of  items  upon  government  and  foreign  relations,  and 
devoted  several  pages  to  a  resume  of  the  financial 
operations  of  the  Treasury  and  the  currency  prob 
lem.  It  closed  with  an  appeal  to  the  enthusiastic 
multitude  that  approved  free  coinage  to  reexamine 
their  views  "in  the  light  of  patriotic  reason  and 
familiar  experience."  It  gave  no  hint  that  any  other 
topic  was  likely  to  pass  free  silver  in  the  public  view. 
Fifteen  days  later,  on  December  17, 1895,  the  Presi 
dent  sent  a  special  Message  to  Congress,  in  reference 
to  an  old  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  Vene 
zuela,  that  startled  the  world,  upset  the  stock  mar 
kets,  and  brought  to  life  once  more  the  Monroe 
Doctrine. 

For  many  years  the  unsettled  boundary  between 
Venezuela  and  British  Guiana  had  been  a  source  of 
irritation.  The  pretensions  of  both  claimants  were 
great  and  vague,  while  the  continuous  encroachment 
of  British  miners  alarmed  the  weaker  country.  For 
nearly  twenty  years  Venezuela  had  vainly  appealed 
to  the  United  States,  asking  that  the  dispute  be  ar 
bitrated.  The  United  States  had  taken  a  mild  interest 
in  the  wrangle,  but  no  one  before  Cleveland  had  felt 
vitally  concerned.  He  undertook,  in  the  summer  of 
1895,  to  persuade  Great  Britain  to  accept  an  ar 
bitration,  and  pressed  Lord  Salisbury  in  a  series 
of  notes  drafted  by  Richard  Olney,  Secretary  of 
State. 

The  contention  of  Olney  was  that  the  dispute  was 
suitable  for  arbitration  because  of  the  difference  in 
physical  strength  between  the  two  countries,  and 
that  the  United  States  had  an  interest  in  an  equita- 


FREE  SILVER  231 

ble  territorial  adjustment.  He  stated  the  doctrine 
that  John  Quincy  Adams  had  advanced  in  the  Ad 
ministration  of  Monroe,  that  interference  with  the 
destiny  of  the  South  American  Republics  affects  the 
United  States,  and  asserted  that  this  was  now  a  part 
of  the  public  law  of  the  United  States.  He  listed 
the  precedents  in  which  it  had  been  advanced  since 
1823,  finding  none  in  which  it  had  been  flatly 
checked.  His  long  arguments  upon  the  interests 
and  proper  supremacy  of  the  United  States  in  all 
American  questions  failed  to  convince  the  British 
Foreign  Office,  which  denied  both  Olney's  correct 
ness  in  applying  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  bind 
ing  force  of  the  doctrine  itself.  Arbitration  was 
declined,  and  Cleveland,  in  submitting  the  corre 
spondence  to  Congress,  urged  that  an  American 
court  be  created  to  ascertain  the  true  boundary  and 
that  the  United  States  afterward  maintain  it.  "  In 
making  these  recommendations,"  he  admitted,  "  I  am 
fully  alive  to  the  responsibility  incurred  and  keenly 
realize  all  the  consequences  that  may  follow." 

The  threat  of  war  conveyed  in  the  Message  drove 
silver  from  the  public  mind.  Business  was  aghast, 
and  judicious  publicists  either  questioned  the  value  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  or  denied  the  propriety  of  its 
application.  The  general  public  supported  the  Presi 
dent  without  question,  but  many  of  his  closest  ad 
visers  turned  against  him.  His  political  enemies 
charged  him  with  raising  a  foreign  issue  to  reunite 
his  party,  or  with  creating  a  scare  to  help  his  specula 
tions  in  stocks.  Great  Britain  blustered  in  her  press, 
but  opened  her  archives  to  the  American  Venezuelan 


232  THE  NEW  NATION 

Commission.  In  1897  she  allowed  an  arbitration  to 
take  place,  and  the  affair  passed  over. 

Whatever  Cleveland's  motive  in  the  Venezuela 
Message,  it  did  not  establish  more  than  a  transient 
calm  in  either  party.  His  own  was  doubly  split  by 
silver  and  the  tariff,  while  Republican  plans  for 
1896  had  become  badly  deranged.  That  party  had 
organized  to  play  upon  protection,  but  found  interest 
in  its  chosen  subject  silenced  for  the  time. 

In  spite  of  its  defeats  in  1890  and  1892,  the  Re 
publican  organization  had  kept  up  its  fight  for  pro 
tection.  Quay  had  in  1888  completed  the  partnership 
between  the  manufacturers  who  had  a  cash  interest 
in  the  tariff  and  the  Republican  voters.  In  manufac 
turing  communities  the  doctrine  had  been  accepted 
that  prosperity  and  protection  went  together.  Ruin 
was  prophesied  if  the  Democrats  should  win.  The 
panic  of  1893  seemed  to  prove  this,  and  when  the 
Democrats  passed  the  Wilson  Bill  the  Republicans 
asserted  that  the  fear  of  this  had  caused  the  panic. 
In  private,  the  leaders  agreed  with  the  president  of 
the  Home  Market  Club,  who  wrote  in  his  memoirs, 
"  The  bill  .  .  .  was  much  less  destructive  than  there 
was  reason  to  fear."  "  Our  business  was  not  unprofit 
able  during  these  lean  years,  but  much  less  profitable 
than  it  had  been  and  ought  to  have  been."  Prosperity 
was  clearly  lacking  and  to  be  desired,  and  among 
the  candidates  for  the  nomination  in  1896  was  the 
author  of  the  McKinley  Bill,  in  whom  an  Ohio 
cartoonist  had  discovered  the  "  Advance  Agent  of 
Prosperity." 

Associated  with  the  name  of  William  McKinley, 


FREE  SILVER  233 

of  Canton,  Ohio,  was  that  of  Marcus  Alonzo  Hanna, 
a  citizen  of  Cleveland  who  had  acted  on  the  bor 
derland  between  business  and  politics  since  1880. 
Hanna  had  been  among  the  earliest  to  see  the  finan 
cial  interest  of  the  manufacturers  in  the  tariff  and 
to  capitalize  it  for  political  purposes.  For  several 
years  he  had  collected  money  in  Ohio  for  campaign 
funds,  assessing  the  manufacturers  according  to 
their  interests  and  impressing  upon  them  the  duty 
of  paying  on  demand.  It  had  been  a  business  trans 
action.  Hanna  had  no  extraordinary  stake  in  the 
result,  but  combined  a  genuine  interest  in  politics 
with  business  standards  of  the  prevailing  type. 
About  1890  he  became  a  friend  of  the  Ohio  pro 
tectionist  and  worked  steadily  thereafter  for  his  elec 
tion  to  the  Presidency. 

McKinley  was  a  tactful  and  successful  Congress 
man.  He  believed  in  the  tariff,  spoke  convincingly 
in  its  favor,  had  few  enemies  and  many  warm  friends, 
and  was  widely  advertised  by  the  Tariff  Bill  of 
1890.  In  public  places  after  1893  he  was  repeatedly 
hailed  as  the  next  candidate,  but  as  the  silver  issue 
rose  it  appeared  that  there  might  be  great  difficulty 
in  adapting  his  record  to  the  new  problem.  He  had 
favored  bimetallism  and  free  coinage  in  so  many 
debates  that  the  East,  where  lay  the  strongholds  of 
the  party,  distrusted  his  soundness  on  the  currency 
question.  Yet  if  he  abandoned  free  silver  it  was 
doubtful  if  he  could  hold  the  West.  For  months 
his  friends,  steered  by  Hanna,  who  spent  his  own 
money  freely,  endeavored  to  keep  the  tariff  in  the 
foreground,  while  the  candidate  preserved  a  discreet 


234  THE  NEW  NATION 

and  exasperating  silence  upon  the  dominant  issue  of 
free  silver. 

The  most  important  rivals  of  McKinley  for  the 
nomination  were  Harrison  and  Reed,  but  neither  of 
these  possessed  a  manager  as  shrewd  and  resourceful 
as  Hanna.  McKinley  was  nominated  on  the  first 
ballot  at  St.  Louis,  with  Garrett  P.  Hobart,  of  New 
Jersey,  a  corporation  lawyer  who  believed  in  the 
gold  standard,  as  his  associate. 

The  nature  of  the  Eepublican  platform  had  been 
in  debate  throughout  the  spring  of  1896.  The 
organization  was  reluctant  to  take  up  the  silver  issue 
and  the  predetermined  candidate  was  uncertain  upon 
it.  In  the  Platform  Committee  there  was  a  contest 
involving  the  opportunists,  who  wanted  to  continue 
the  policy  of  evasion ;  the  Westerners,  who  felt  that 
silver  meant  more  to  them  than  the  party ;  and  the 
representatives  of  the  populous  commercial  East, 
who  were  devoted  to  the  gold  standard.  Bimetallists 
had  progressed  in  their  education  until  most  of  them 
saw  that  bimetallism  must  be  international  if  it 
could  be  at  all.  Various  coinmitteemen  later  assumed 
the  credit  for  the  plank  that  was  finally  adopted. 
After  castigating  the  Democrats  for  producing  the 
panic  and  renewing  the  pledge  for  protection,  the 
party  denounced  the  debasement  of  currency  or 
credit.  It  opposed  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  asserted 
that  all  money  must  be  kept  at  a  "parity  with 
gold,"  and  pledged  itself  to  work  for  an  international 
agreement  for  bimetallism. 

The  fight  for  free  silver  was  carried  by  the  silver 
state  delegations  to  the  floor  of  the  convention,  where 


FREE  SILVER  235 

it  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  818J  to  105|.  At  this 
point,  led  by  Senators  from  Colorado  and  Utah, 
thirty-four  members  withdrew  from  the  convention 
in  protest.  Even  the  Prohibition  party  had  already 
been  broken  by  the  new  issue.  The  humorous  weekly, 
Life,  spoke  seriously  when  it  declared  that  "  The 
two  great  parties  in  the  country  at  this  writing  are 
the  Gold  party  and  the  Silver  party.  The  old  parties 
are  in  temporary  eclipse."  Few  were  satisfied  with 
the  Kepublican  result,  for  while  the  platform  pointed 
one  way  and  the  candidate's  career  pointed  the  other 
on  free  silver,  the  real  interest  of  the  party,  pro 
tection,  aroused  no  enthusiasm. 

No  Democrat  was  the  predetermined  candidate  of 
his  party  when  it  met  at  Chicago  in  July,  1896. 
Cleveland,  least  of  all,  was  not  given  even  the  scanty 
notice  of  a  commendatory  plank.  He  stood  alone  as 
no  other  President  had  done,  at  issue  with  the  Re 
publicans  on  their  major  policy,  yet  without  followers 
in  his  own  organization.  Slow,  patient,  courageous, 
stubborn,  he  had  twice  held  his  party  to  its  promise, 
and  he  had  refused  to  be  carried  away  by  the  tran 
sitory  demand  of  the  West  for  dangerous  finance. 
He  had  guided  the  National  Administration  through 
eight  years  of  expansion  and  reorganization,  and  had 
been  a  devoted  servant  of  civil  service  reform.  In 
May,  1896,  he  had  aggravated  his  offenses  in  the 
eyes  of  the  politicians  by  issuing  new  rules  that  ex 
tended  the  classified  service  to  include  some  31,000 
new  employees,  making  a  total  of  86,000  out  of 
178,000  federal  employees.  He  passed  out  of  party 
politics  at  least  two  years  before  his  term  expired, 


236  THE  NEW  NATION 

and  in  1897  he  took  up  his  final  abode  in  Princeton. 
From  Princeton  he  wrote  and  spoke  for  eleven  years, 
and  before  he  died  in  1908  the  animosities  of  1896 
were  forgotten,  and  he  looked  large  in  the  American 
mind  as  a  statesman  whose  independence  and  sin 
cerity  were  beyond  reproach. 

Forces  beyond  the  control  of  politicians  carried 
the  Democrats  toward  an  alliance  with  Populism 
and  free  silver.  As  two  minority  parties  they  had 
felt  in  1892  a  tendency  to  fuse  against  the  Repub 
licans.  By  conviction  they  were  both  obliged  to  fight 
the  party  of  Hanna  and  McKinley,  in  which  the 
forces  of  business,  finance,  and  manufacture  were 
assembled  in  the  joint  cause  of  protection  and  the 
gold  standard.  It  was  convenient  to  make  this  fight 
in  close  alliance,  the  more  so  because  the  Populist 
doctrine  of  free  silver  had  permeated  the  Democratic 
organization  in  the  West  and  South.  In  the  conven 
tions  of  1896  more  than  thirty  States,  as  Nebraska 
had  done  in  1894,  asked  for  immediate  free  coinage, 
and  a  majority  of  the  Democratic  delegates  were 
pledged  to  this  before  they  came  to  Chicago.  They 
gained  control  of  the  convention  on  the  first  vote, 
determined  contests  in  their  own  favor,  and  offered 
a  plank  demanding  "  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage 
of  both  silver  and  gold  at  the  present  legal  ratio  of 
sixteen  to  one  without  waiting  for  the  aid  or  consent 
of  any  other  nation." 

The  debate  on  the  silver  plank  was  long  and  bit 
ter,  although  its  passage  was  certain.  It  was  closed 
by  the  leader  of  the  Nebraska  delegation,  William 
Jennings  Bryan,  who  had  been  a  former  Congress- 


FREE  SILVER  237 

man,  and  who  later  said,  "  An  opportunity  to  close 
such  a  debate  had  never  come  to  me  before,  and  I 
doubt  if  as  good  an  opportunity  had  ever  come  to 
any  other  person  during  this  generation."  He  took 
advantage  of  the  moment,  in  a  tired  convention  that 
had  been  wrangling  in  bitterness  for  several  days,  that 
had  deserted  the  old  politicians,  and  that  had  no 
candidate.  He  was  only  thirty-six  years  old,  his  face 
was  unfamiliar,  and  his  name  had  rarely  been  heard 
outside  his  State,  but  he  had  been  preaching  free 
silver  with  religious  intensity  and  oratorical  skill. 
His  speech  had  grown  through  repeated  speaking, 
and  reached  its  climax  as  he  pleaded  for  free  silver : 
"  If  they  dare  to  come  out  in  the  open  field  and  de 
fend  the  gold  standard  as  a  good  thing,  we  will  fight 
them  to  the  uttermost.  Having  behind  us  the  pro 
ducing  masses  of  this  nation  and  the  world,  supported 
by  the  commercial  interests,  the  laboring  interests, 
and  the  toilers  everywhere,  we  will  answer  their 
demand  for  the  gold  standard  by  saying  to  them : 
You  shall  not  press  down  upon  the  brow  of  labor 
this  crown  of  thorns  ;  you  shall  not  crucify  mankind 
upon  a  cross  of  gold."  Swept  off  its  feet  by  the  en 
thusiasm  for  silver,  and  having  no  other  candidate 
in  view,  the  convention  nominated  Bryan  on  the  fifth 
ballot,  selecting  Arthur  Sewall,  of  Maine,  as  his  com 
panion. 

The  Populists  met  in  St.  Louis  on  July  22.  "  If 
we  fuse,  we  are  sunk,"  complained  one  of  the  most 
devoted  leaders;  "if  we  don't  fuse,  all  the  silver 
men  will  leave  us  for  the  more  powerful  Democrats." 
Fusion  controlled  the  convention,  voting  down  the 


238  THE  NEW  NATION 

"  Middle-of-the-Road  "  group  that  adhered  to  inde 
pendence.  Bryan  was  nominated,  although  Sewall 
was  rejected  for  Thomas  E.  Watson,  of  Georgia. 
The  organization  of  the  People's  Party  continued 
after  1896,  but  its  vitality  was  gone  forever. 

The  campaign  of  1896  was  an  orgy  of  education, 
emotion,  and  panic.  McKinley  was  driven  by  the 
opposition  to  defend  the  gold  standard  with  increas 
ing  intensity.  Protection  ceased  to  arouse  interest 
and  other  issues  were  forgotten.  The  Bryan  party 
attracted  to  itself  the  silver  wings  of  the  Republicans 
and  Prohibitionists,  and  absorbed  the  Populists.  The 
gold  Democrats,  after  several  weeks  of  indecision 
as  to  tactics,  became  bolters,  held  a  convention  at 
Indianapolis  in  September,  and  nominated  John  M. 
Palmer  and  Simon  Buckner.  To  this  ticket,  Cleve 
land  and  his  Cabinet  gave  their  support.  Up  and 
down  the  land  Bryan  traveled,  preaching  his  new  gos 
pel,  which  millions  regarded  as  "  the  first  great  pro 
test  of  the  American  people  against  monopoly  —  the 
first  great  struggle  of  the  masses  in  our  country 
against  the  privileged  classes."  "Probably  no  man 
in  civil  life,"  said  the  Nation  at  the  end  of  the  fight, 
"  has  succeeded  in  inspiring  so  much  terror  without 
taking  life." 

As  chairman  of  the  National  Committee,  Marcus 
A.  Hanna  directed  the  Republican  campaign.  He 
encouraged  the  belief  that  Bryan  was  waging  a 
"campaign  against  the  Ten  Commandments."  He 
drew  his  sinews  of  war  from  the  manufacturers,  who 
were  used  to  such  demands,  and  from  a  wide  range 
of  panic-stricken  contributors  who  feared  repudia- 


FREE  SILVER  239 

tion.  Insurance  companies  and  national  banks  were 
assessed  and  paid  with  alacrity.  The  funds  went  into 
the  broadest  campaign  of  education  that  the  United 
States  had  seen. 

In  contrast  to  the  activity  of  Bryan,  McKinley 
stayed  at  home  through  the  summer,  and  delegations 
from  afar  were  brought  up  to  his  veranda  at  Canton, 
Ohio.  To  these  he  spoke  briefly  and  with  dignity, 
gaining  an  assurance  that  grew  with  the  campaign. 
His  arguments  were  taken  over  the  country  by  a 
horde  of  speakers  whom  Hanna  organized,  who 
reached  and  educated  every  voter  whose  mind  was 
open  on  the  silver  question.  In  the  closing  days  of 
the  campaign  panic  struck  the  conservative  classes 
and  produced  for  Hanna  campaign  funds  such  as 
had  never  been  seen,  and  cries  of  corruption  met  the 
charges  of  repudiation. 

An  English  visitor  in  New  York  wrote  on  the 
Sunday  before  election  :  "  Of  course  nothing  can  be 
done  till  Wednesday.  All  America  is  aflame  with 
excitement  —  and  New  York  itself  is  at  fever  heat. 
I  have  never  seen  such  a  sight  as  yesterday.  The 
whole  city  was  a  mass  of  flags  and  innumerable  Ke- 
publican  and  Democratic  insignia  —  with  the  streets 
thronged  with  over  two  million  people.  The  whole 
business  quarter  made  a  gigantic  parade  that  took 
seven  hours  in  its  passage  —  and  the  business  men 
alone  amounted  to  over  100,000.  Every  one — as, 
indeed,  not  only  America,  but  Great  Britain  and  all 
Europe  —  is  now  looking  eagerly  for  the  final  word 
on  Tuesday  night.  The  larger  issues  are  now 
clearer :  not  merely  that  the  Bryanite  fifty-cent 


240  THE  NEW  NATION 

dollar  (instead  of  the  standard  hundred-cent)  would 
have  far-reaching  disastrous  effects,  but  that  the 
whole  struggle  is  one  of  the  anarchic  and  destructive 
against  the  organic  and  constructive  forces." 

The  vote  was  taken  in  forty-five  States,  Utah 
having  been  admitted  early  in  1896,  and  no  elec 
tion  had  evoked  a  larger  proportion  of  the  possible 
vote.  Bryan  received  6,500,000  votes,  nearly  a 
million  more  than  any  elected  President  had  ever 
received,  but  he  ran  600,000  votes  behind  McKin- 
ley.  The  Eepublican  list  included  every  State  north 
of  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  and  east  of  the  Missouri 
River,  except  Missouri  and  South  Dakota.  The 
solid  South  was  confronted  by  a  solid  North  and 
East,  while  the  West  was  divided.  McKinley  re 
ceived  271  electoral  votes;  Bryan,  176. 

Education  played  a  large  part  in  the  result,  and 
economic  opinion  believes  that  the  better  cause  pre 
vailed.  But  cool  analysis  had  less  effect  than  emo 
tion  and  self-interest  at  the  time.  The  lowest  point 
of  depression  had  been  reached  during  1894,  while 
the  harvests  of  1895  and  1896  were  larger  and 
more  profitable  than  had  been  known  for  several 
years.  Free  silver  was  a  hard-times  movement  that 
weakened  in  the  face  of  better  crops.  "  Give  us 
good  times,"  said  Reed  to  Richard  Watson  Gilder, 
"  and  all  will  come  out  right."  Inflation  was  not 
to  be  desired  by  the  citizen  who  had  in  hand  the 
funds  to  pay  his  debts.  When  he  became  solvent  he 
could  understand  the  theories  of  sound  finance.  It 
is  probable  that  nature  as  well  as  gold  was  a  potent 
aid  to  Hanna  in  procuring  the  result. 


FREE  SILVER  241 

William  McKinley  was  advertised  as  the  "Ad 
vance  Agent  of  Prosperity,"  and  before  he  was 
inaugurated  in  March,  1897,  prosperity  was  in 
sight.  His  election  had  destroyed  all  fear  that  the 
currency  would  be  upset  by  legislative  act,  while 
the  liquidation  after  the  panic  of  1893  had  nearly 
run  its  course.  Business  was  reviving,  crops  were 
improving,  and  the  luckless  farmers  of  the  Western 
plains  had  abandoned  their  farms  or  learned  how  to 
use  them.  After  1896  the  financial  danger  was  not 
silver  but  gold  inflation.  In  that  year  great  mines 
were  opened  in  Alaska,  drawing  heavy  immigration 
to  the  valley  of  the  Yukon  and,  a  little  later,  to  the 
beach  at  Nome.  Other  discoveries  increased  the  gold 
output  and  flooded  the  world  with  the  more  precious 
metal.  By  1900  prices  were  rising  instead  of  fall 
ing,  and  public  interest  was  turned  upon  the  high 
cost  of  living  rather  than  the  low  prices  of  the  pre 
vious  period.  The  average  annual  output  of  gold  for 
the  fifteen  years  ending  in  1896  was  1132,000,000. 
For  the  fifteen  years  beginning  in  1896,  it  was 
8337,000,000.  The  election  of  McKinley  was  in 
name  a  victory  for  the  Republican  party,  but  was  in 
reality  one  for  sound  money.  The  organization  upon 
which  he  stood  was  an  amalgamation  of  creditors 
and  manufacturers,  reenforced  by  gold-standard  men 
of  all  parties.  Without  the  aid  of  the  last  element 
he  could  hardly  have  been  elected,  on  this  or  any 
other  issue.  When  he  took  office  the  Republican 
party  had  control  in  both  houses  of  Congress,  had 
been  elected  on  a  money  issue,  but  had  a  permanent 
organization  based  upon  the  tariff  propaganda.  Be- 


242  THE  NEW  NATION 

fore  his  inauguration,  Hanna  declared  that  the  elec 
tion  was  a  mandate  for  a  new  protective  tariff,  and 
one  of  McKinley's  earliest  official  acts  was  to  sum 
mon  Congress  to  meet  in  special  session,  to  fulfill 
that  mandate,  on  March  15,  1897. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  most  popular  document  in  the  free-silver  propaganda 
was  W.  H.  Harvey,  Coin's  Financial  School  (c.  1894).  This 
was  replied  to  by  Horace  White,  Coin's  Financial  Fool ;  or 
the  Artful  Dodger  Exposed  (c.  1896);  and  the  same  author,  in 
Money  and  Banking  (4th  ed.,  1911),  discusses  the  economics 
of  free  silver.  The  best  economic  arguments  for  free  silver 
came  from  the  pens  of  Francis  A.  Walker  and  E.  Benjamin 
Andrews.  The  Reports  of  the  International  Monetary  Con 
ferences  (at  Paris,  1867  and  1881,  and  at  Brussels,  1892)  are 
useful  upon  the  attempt  to  establish  a  currency  ratio  by  inter 
national  agreement.  There  is  no  good  biography  of  William 
McKinley,  although  the  external  facts  of  his  career  may  be 
obtained  in  the  Annual  Cyclopcedia,  and  in  Who's  Who  in 
America  (a  biennial  publication  which,  since  its  first  issue  in 
1899-1900,  has  been  the  standard  source  of  biographical  data 
concerning  living  Americans).  These  may  be  strengthened  by 
D.  Magie,  Life  of  Garrett  A.  Hobart  (1910).  The  best  biog 
raphy  of  the  period  is  H.  Croly,  Marcus  Alonzo  Hanna 
(1912),  which  gives  an  illuminating  survey  of  Republican 
politics,  although  based  on  only  the  public  printed  materials 
and  personal  recollections.  The  opposition  may  be  studied  in 
W.  J.  Bryan,  The  First  Battle  (1896).  The  platforms,  as 
always,  are  in  Stanwood,  and  there  are  useful  narratives  in 
Dewey,  Latand,  Andrews,  and  Peck.  From  this  period  the 
Outlook  (January,  1897),  and  the  Independent  (July,  1898), 
take  on  a  modern  magazine  form  and  are  to  be  added  to  the 
list  of  valuable  newspaper  files,  while  the  Literary  Digest  begins 
to  play  the  part  carried  by  Niles's  Register  in  the  early  part  of 
the  century.  They  may  generally  be  trusted  as  intelligent, 
honest,  and  reasonably  independent.  The  Venezuelan  affair, 


FREE  SILVER  243 

besides  stimulating  diplomatic  correspondence  (q.v.,  in  Foreign 
Relations  Reports),  led  to  the  writing  of  W.  F.  Reddaway, 
The  Monroe  Doctrine  (1898),  which  is  still  one  of  the  most 
judicious  discussions  of  the  topic.  J.  B.  Henderson,  American 
Diplomatic  Questions  (1901),  is  useful  also. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    "  COUNTER-REFORMATION  " 

THE  mission  of  Populism  did  not  end  when  free 
silver  had  been  driven  like  a  wedge  into  all  the 
parties.  Its  more  fundamental  reforms  outlasted 
both  the  hard  times  and  the  recovery  from  them. 
Although  obscured  by  the  shadow  of  the  larger  con 
troversy,  the  reforms  had  been  stated  with  convic 
tion.  The  Populist  party  was  not  permitted  to  bring 
the  reformation  that  it  promised,  but  it  stimulated 
within  the  parties  in  power  a  "  counter-reformation," 
that  was  already  under  way.  This  counter-reforma 
tion  was  largely  within  the  Republican  ranks  be 
cause  that  party  dominated  in  every  branch  of  the 
National  Government  for  fourteen  years  after  1897, 
but  it  was  essentially  non-partisan.  It  derived  its 
advocates  from  the  generation  that  had  been  edu 
cated  since  the  Civil  War,  and  many  of  its  leaders 
bore  the  imprint  of  democratic  higher  education. 
It  derived  its  materials  from  historical,  economic, 
and  sociological  study  of  the  forces  of  American 
society. 

Practical  politics  in  America  was  at  its  lowest 
level  in  the  thirty  years  after  the  Civil  War.  The 
United  States  was  politically  fatigued  after  the 
years  of  contest  and  turned  eagerly  to  the  business 
speculations  that  opened  in  every  direction.  Offices 


THE  "COUNTER-REFORMATION"     245 

were  left  to  those  who  chose  to  run  them,  while  pub 
lic  scrutiny  of  public  acts  was  materially  reduced. 
The  men  in  charge,  unwatched  in  their  business, 
used  it  often  for  personal  advantage,  and  were  aided 
in  this  by  the  character  of  both  the  electoral  ma 
chinery  and  the  electorate.  A  multitude  of  offices 
had  to  be  kept  filled  in  every  State  and  city  by 
voters  who  could  know  little  of  the  candidates  and 
who  accepted  the  recommendation  implied  in  the 
party  name.  Control  of  the  nominations  meant  con 
trol  of  the  elections,  and  was  within  reach  of  those 
who  were  persistent  in  attending  caucuses  and  con 
ventions  and  were  not  too  scrupulous  in  manipulat 
ing  them.  The  laws  against  bribery  at  the  polls  did 
not  touch  corruption  at  the  primaries.  The  cities, 
rapidly  growing  through  manufactures  and  immi 
gration,  were  full  of  voters  who  could  be  trained  to 
support  the  "  bosses  "  who  befriended  them. 

The  American  "boss"  made  his  appearance  inX 
the  cities  about  1870.  His  power  was  based  upon 
his  personal  influence  with  voters  of  the  lower  and 
more  numerous  class.  Gaining  control  of  party  ma 
chinery  he  dictated  nominations  and  policies,  and 
used  the  government,  as  the  exposures  of  the  Tweed 
Ring  showed,  to  enrich  his  friends  and  to  perpetuate 
his  power.  Caring  little  for  party  principle,  he  made 
a  close  alliance  with  the  new  business  that  continu 
ally  needed  new  laws,  —  building  laws,  transporta 
tion  laws,  terminal  rights,  or  franchises.  From  these 
allies  came  the  funds  for  managing  elections,  and, 
too  often,  for  direct  bribery,  although  this  last  was 
necessary  only  rarely. 


246  THE  NEW  NATION 

Exposures  of  the  evil  of  boss  government  were 
frequent  after  1870,  and  in  most  cities  occasional 
revolts  of  outraged  citizens  overturned  the  machines, 
but  in  the  long  run  the  citizen  was  no  match  for  the 
professional  politician.  In  the  unequal  contest  city 
government  became  steadily  worse  in  America  at  a 
time  when  European  city  government  was  rapidly 
improving.  States,  too,  were  afflicted  with  machine 
politics,  and  before  1890  it  appeared  that  the  dom 
inant  national  party  derived  its  most  valuable  sup 
port  from  organized  business  that  profited  by  the 
partnership. 

A  minority  of  Americans  fought  continually  for 
better  and  cleaner  government  as  the  evils  of  boss 
rule  became  more  visible.  One  of  them,  Bishop  Pot 
ter,  of  New  York,  gained  wide  hearing  through  a 
sermon  preached  at  the  centennial  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  in  1887,  in  which  he  turned  from  the  usual 
patriotic  congratulation  to  discuss  actual  government. 
The  keenest  interest  in  the  subject  was  aroused  by 
the  American  Commonwealth  of  James  Bryce. 

Not  since  Alexis  de  Tocqueville  published  his 
Democracy  in  America,  in  1835,  had  any  foreign 
observer  made  an  equally  intimate  study  of  Ameri 
can  life,  until  James  Bryce,  a  young  English  histo 
rian,  began  a  series  of  visits  to  the  United  States  in 
the  early  seventies.  For  nearly  twenty  years  Bryce 
repeated  his  visits,  living  at  home  a  full  life  in  his 
Oxford  professorate,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
in  the  Ministry.  In  America  he  knew  every  one 
worth  knowing,  and  he  saw  the  remoter  regions  of 
the  West  as  well  as  the  older  society  of  the  East.  In 


THE  "COUNTER-REFORMATION"     247 

1888  he  brought  out  the  result  of  his  studies  in  two 
volumes  that  were  filled  with  admiration  for  the 
United  States  and  with  disheartening  observation 
upon  its  practices.  One  ~of  its  chapters  cut  so  close 
that  its  victim  brought  suit  for  libel,  but  American 
opinion  accepted  the  book  as  a  friendly  picture  and 
regarded  attacks  upon  it  as  further  evidence  of  its 
inherent  truth.  Probably  no  book  in  a  generation  so 
profoundly  influenced  American  thought  and  so  spe 
cifically  directed  the  course  of  American  reform.  It 
became  a  textbook  at  once,  teaching  the  truth  that 
corruption  and  misgovernment  were  non-partisan, 
and  until  the  Populists  took  them  up  the  movements 
for  reform  were  non-partisan  as  well. 

The  power  of  the  boss  lay  largely  in  the  structure 
of  American  governmental  machinery,  and  though 
some  preached  the  need  for  a  reform  in  spirit,  others 
saw  that  only  mechanical  improvements  could  ac 
complish  results.  A  corruptible  electorate,  such  as 
had  long  confused  British  and  American  politics, 
was  one  defect  most  easily  improved.  The  prevailing 
system  for  conducting  elections  made  it  easy  for  the 
purchaser  of  votes  to  see  that  he  got  value  for  his 
money.  The  State  provided  the  polling-place,  but 
the  candidate  or  the  party  provided  the  printed  bal 
lot.  Party  agents  distributed  these  at  the  polls,  and 
the  voters  who  received  them  could  be  watched  until 
the  votes  were  cast.  Intimidation  of  employees  or 
direct  bribery  were  easy  and  common,  while  secret 
deals  were  not  unknown.  The  loyal  party  voter  de 
posited  the  ballots  provided  for  him ;  the  boss  could 
have  these  arranged  to  suit  his  needs.  It  was  com- 


248  THE  NEW  NATION 

monly  supposed  that  in  1888,  through  an  agreement 
between  the  Democratic  and  Republican  bosses  o£ 
New  York,  Hill  and  Platt,  many  Republicans  were 
made  to  vote  for  Hill  as  Governor,  while  Democrats 
voted  for  Harrison  as  President. 

A  secret  ballot  was  so  reasonable  a  reform  that 
once  it  had  been  suggested  it  spread  rapidly  over 
the  United  States.  In  1888  Massachusetts  adopted 
a  system  based  upon  the  Australian  Ballot  Law, 
while  New  York  advertised  its  value  in  the  same 
year  when  Governor  Hill  vetoed  a  bill  to  establish  it. 
Before  the  next  presidential  election  came  in  1892, 
open  bribery  or  intimidation  of  voters  was  rapidly 
becoming  a  thing  of  the  past,  for  thirty-three  States 
had  adopted  the  Australian  ballot,  provided  by  public 
authority  and  voted  in  secrecy.  "  Quay  and  Platt  and 
Clarkson  may  find  in  this  fact  a  fresh  explanation  of 
President  Harrison's  willingness  to  divest  himself  of 
their  services,"  wrote  Godkin  in  a  caustic  paragraph 
in  1892. 

The  Australian  ballot  enabled  the  honest  citizen 
to  vote  in  secrecy  and  safety,  but  it  failed  to  touch 
the  fact  that  the  nominations  were  still  outside  the 
law.  "  To  find  the  honest  men,"  Bryce  wrote,  "  and 
having  found  them,  to  put  them  in  office  and  keep 
them  there,  is  the  great  problem  of  American  poli 
tics."  So  long  as  a  boss  could  direct  the  nomination 
he  could  tolerate  an  honest  election.  The  movement 
to  legalize  the  party  primaries  was  just  beginning 
when  the  ballot  reform  was  accomplished.  The  most 
extreme  of  the  primary  reformers  saw  the  need  for 
a  preliminary  election  conducted  within  each  party, 


THE  "COUNTER-REFORMATION"     249 

but  under  all  the  safeguards  of  law,  to  the  end  that 
the  voters  might  themselves  determine  their  candi 
dates.  Direct  primaries  were  discussed  by  the  younger 
men,  who  were  often  ambitious,  but  helpless  because 
of  the  rigor  with  which  the  bosses  selected  their  own 
candidates.  In  1897  a  young  ex-Congressman,  Rob 
ert  M.  LaFollette,  worked  out  a  complete  system  of 
local  and  national  primaries,  and  found  wide  and 
sympathetic  hearing  for  it.  The  movement  had  to 
face  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  machine  politicians 
because  it  struck  directly  at  their  power,  but  it  pro 
gressed  slowly.  In  1901  it  won  in  Minnesota;  a 
little  later  it  won  in  Wisconsin ;  and  in  the  next 
ten  years  it  became  a  central  feature  in  reform  plat 
forms. 

The  reforms  of  the  primary  and  the  ballot  were 
designed  to  improve  the  quality  of  public  officers, 
and  were  supplemented  by  a  demand  for  direct  legis 
lation  which  would  check  up  the  result.  In  Switzer 
land  a  scheme  had  been  devised  by  which  the  peo 
ple,  by  petition,  could  initiate  new  laws  or  obtain  a 
vote  upon  existing  laws.  The  idea  of  submitting 
special  measures  to  popular  vote,  or  referendum,  was 
old  in  the  United  States,  for  in  this  way  state  con 
stitutions  and  constitutional  amendments  were  ha 
bitually  adopted,  and  matters  of  city  charters,  loans 
and  franchises  often  determined.  The  initiative, 
however,  was  new,  and  appealed  to  the  reformer  who 
resented  the  refusal  of  the  legislature  to  pass  de 
sired  laws  as  well  as  the  unwillingness  to  pass  worthy 
ones.  The  Populists,  in  1892,  recommended  that  the 
system  of  direct  legislation  be  investigated,  and  they 


250  THE  NEW  NATION 

favored  its  adoption  in  1896.  A  journal  for  the  pro 
motion  of  the  reform  appeared  in  1894.  In  1898 
the  first  State,  South  Dakota,  adopted  the  principle 
of  initiative  and  referendum  in  a  constitutional 
amendment.  To  those  who  attacked  the  device  as 
only  mechanical  it  was  answered :  "  Direct  legisla 
tion  is  not  a  panacea  for  all  national  ills.  In  fact  it 
is  not  a  panacea  at  all.  It  is  merely  a  spoon  with 
which  the  panacea  can  be  administered.  Specific 
legislation  is  the  panacea  for  political  ills." 

The  West  was  more  ready  than  the  East  to  break 
from  existing  practice  and  take  up  the  new  reforms. 
It  had  always  been  the  liberal  section  of  the  United 
States.  Between  1800  and  1830  it  had  led  in  the 
enlargement  of  the  franchise  and  in  the  removal  of 
qualifications  of  wealth  and  religion.  It  now  ap 
proached  the  one  remaining  qualification  of  sex. 
With  the  admission  of  Wyoming  in  1890,  full 
woman  suffrage  appeared  among  the  States.  Colo 
rado  adopted  an  amendment  establishing  it  in  1893. 
Utah,  in  the  words  of  the  women,  "  completing  the 
trinity  of  true  Republics  at  the  summit  of  the  Rock 
ies,"  became  the  third  suffrage  State  in  January, 
1896,  while  Idaho  adopted  woman  suffrage  in  the 
same  year.  It  was  fifteen  years  before  a  fifth  State 
was  added  to  the  list,  but  the  women's  movement  was 
advancing  in  all  directions.  A  General  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs  was  organized  in  1890  as  a  clearing 
house  for  the  activities  of  the  women,  and  through 
organizations  like  the  Consumers'  League,  the  move 
ment  fell  into  line  with  the  general  course  of  reform. 
A  clearer  vision  of  the  defects  in  governmental  ma- 


THE  "COUNTER-REFORMATION"    251 

chinery  and  of  the  needs  of  society  was  spreading 
rapidly.  Hull  House,  opened  in  1889  by  Jane  Ad- 
dams,  had  a  host  of  imitators  in  the  cities,  and 
enabled  social  workers  to  study  the  results  of  indus 
trial  progress  upon  the  laboring  class. 

The  new  reforms,  mechanical  and  otherwise,  estab 
lished  themselves  about  1890,  and  were  taken  up  by 
the  Populist  party  between  1892  and  1896.  Neither 
great  party  noticed  the  reforms  before  1896,  but  in 
each  party  the  younger  workers  saw  their  point.  As 
non-partisan  movements  they  gained  adherents  before 
the  Populist  party  died  out,  and  were  pressed  more 
and  more  seriously  upon  reluctant  organizations.  As 
a  whole  they  were  an  attempt  to  make  government 
more  truly  representative  of  the  voters,  and  to  take 
the  control  of  affairs  from  the  hands  of  men  who 
might  and  often  did  use  them  for  private  aggran 
dizement.  They  were  overshadowed  in  1896  by  the 
paramount  issue  of  free  silver,  and  were  deferred  in 
their  fulfilment  for  a  decade  by  accidents  which  drove 
them  from  the  public  mind.  The  Spanish  War,  re 
viving  prosperity,  and  the  renewal  of  tariff  legisla 
tion,  did  not  check  the  activities  of  the  reformers,  but 
did  divert  the  attention  of  the  public. 

William  McKinley  was  inaugurated  on  March  4, 
1897.  He  had  served  in  five  Congresses  and  had 
been  three  times  governor  of  Ohio.  He  "knew  the 
legislative  body  thoroughly,  its  composition,  its  meth 
ods,  its  habits  of  thought,"  said  John  Hay.  "  He  had 
the  profoundest  respect  for  its  authority  and  an  in 
flexible  belief  in  the  ultimate  rectitude  of  its  pur 
poses."  He  was  not  likely  to  embarrass  business 


THE  NEW  NATION 

through  bluntness  or  inexperience.  He  had  risen 
through  a  kindly  disposition,  a  recognition  of  the 
political  value  of  tact,  and  an  unusual  skill  as  a 
moderator  of  variant  opinions.  He  believed  that  his 
function  was  to  represent  the  popular  will  as  rapidly 
as  it  expressed  itself,  differing  fundamentally  in  this 
from  Cleveland,  who  thought  himself  bound  to  act 
in  the  interest  of  the  people  as  he  saw  it.  His  Cab 
inet  reflected  the  interests  that  secured  his  election. 
The  trend  of  issues  had  made  the  Republican 
party,  by  1897,  the  party  of  organized  business. 
For  twelve  years  the  alliance  had  grown  steadily 
closer.  Marcus  A.  Hanna  was  its  spokesman.  The 
burlesque  of  his  sincere  and  kindly  face,  drawn  by  a 
caricaturist,  Davenport,  for  Eastern  papers,  created 
for  the  popular  eye  the  type  of  commercialized  mag 
nate,  but  it  did  him  great  injustice.  Self-respecting 
and  direct,  he  believed  it  to  be  the  first  function  of 
government  to  protect  property,  and  that  property 
should  organize  for  this  purpose.  Without  malevo 
lence,  he  conducted  business  for  the  sake  of  its 
profits,  and  regarded  government  as  an  adjunct  to  it. 
He  possessed  great  capacity  for  winning  popularity, 
and  after  his  entry  into  public  life  in  1897  gained 
reputation  as  an  effective  speaker.  He  destroyed, 
before  his  death,  much  of  the  offensive  notoriety  that 
had  been  thrust  upon  him  during  the  campaign  of 
1896,  but  he  remained  the  best  representative  of  the  , 
generation  that  believed  government  to  be  only  a 
business  asset.  He  did  not  enter  the  Cabinet  of 
McKinley,  but  was  appointed  Senator  from  Ohio 
when  John  Sherman  vacated  his  seat. 


THE  "COUNTER-REFORMATION"     253 

The  pledge  of  the  Republicans  for  international 
bimetallism  created  a  need  for  a  financial  Secretary 
of  State,  and  John  Sherman,  though  old  and  infirm, 
was  persuaded  to  undertake  the  office.  The  routine 
of  the  department  was  assigned  to  an  assistant  sec 
retary,  William  R.  Day,  an  old  friend  of  the  Presi 
dent.  A  magnate  of  the  match  trust,  Russell  A.  Alger, 
of  Michigan,  received  the  War  Department.  The 
president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago, 
Lyman  J.  Gage,  received  the  Treasury.  The  other 
secretaries,  too,  were  men  of  solidity,  generally  self- 
made,  and  likely  to  inspire  confidence  in  the  world 
of  business. 

The  new  Senators  who  appeared  at  this  time  repre 
sented  the  same  alliance  of  trade  and  politics.  Hanna, 
in  Ohio,  and  Thomas  C.  Platt,  president  of  the  United 
States  Express  Company,  in  New  York,  were  the 
most  striking  instances.  In  Pennsylvania  Quay  was 
able  to  nominate  his  colleague  in  spite  of  the  opposi 
tion  of  his  old  associate,  John  Wanamaker,  and  se 
lected  Boies  Penrose.  Only  with  the  aid  of  the  silver 
Senators  could  a  Republican  majority  be  procured 
in  the  Senate.  This  made  currency  legislation  im 
possible,  but  the  managers  hoped  that  there  would  be 
a  majority  for  a  protective  tariff  when  Congress  met 
in  special  session,  two  weeks  after  the  inauguration. 

Preparations  for  a  revision  of  the  tariff  had  been 
made  long  before  Cleveland  left  office.  Reed  was  cer 
tain  to  be  reflected  as  Speaker  by  a  large  majority. 
Nelson  Dingley,  of  Maine,  was  equally  certain  to  be 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means, 
and  began  to  hold  tariff  hearings  early  in  1897.  A 


254  THE  NEW  NATION 

rampant  spirit  for  protection  was  revealed  as  the 
manufacturers  stated  their  wishes  to  the  committee. 
It  was  often  told  how  the  low  rates  of  the  Wilson 
Bill  had  caused  the  panic  of  1893,  and  a  New  York 
maker  of  "Oriental  rugs"  created  amusement  by 
asking  to  be  protected  from  the  competition,  not  of 
the  Orient,  but  of  the  German  manufacturers.  Since 
1890  the  strength  of  the  Republican  organization  had 
been  directed  toward  this  revision,  and  the  leaders 
had  held  back  the  silver  issue  lest  it  should  derange 
their  plans.  Now,  though  returned  to  power  only  on 
the  issue  of  the  currency,  they  held  themselves  em 
powered  to  act  as  though  the  tariff  had  been  domi 
nant  in  1896.  The  call  stated  the  need  for  tariff 
legislation,  and  Reed  held  the  House  to  its  task  by 
refusing  to  appoint  the  committees  without  which 
other  business  could  not  be  undertaken. 

The  Dingley  Bill  passed  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  after  a  perfunctory  debate  which  every  one 
regarded  as  only  preliminary  to  the  real  struggle 
in  Senate  and  Conference  Committee.  In  the  Sen 
ate  it  became  a  new  measure  at  the  hands  of  the 
Finance  Committee,  whose  secretary,  S.  N.  D.  North, 
was  also  secretary  of  the  Wool  Manufacturers'  As 
sociation.  Revenue  was  everywhere  subordinated  to 
protection,  until  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics, 
Worthington  C.  Ford,  declared  that  the  act  would 
prolong  the  deficit  which  it  was  designed  to  cure.  On 
its  final  passage,  the  Democratic  Senator,  McEnery, 
of  Louisiana,  left  his  party  to  vote  for  protection  to 
sugar.  He  was  welcomed  home  in  August,  in  spite 
of  his  "  treason,"  by  a  reception  committee  with 


THE  "COUNTER-REFORMATION"     255 

four  hundred  vice-presidents.  The  silver  Senators, 
headed  by  Jones,  of  Nevada,  were  induced  to  sup 
port  the  bill.  They  had  procured  the  Sherman 
Silver  Bill  in  1890  by  the  same  tactics,  and  now, 
holding  the  balance  of  power,  secured  a  group  of 
amendments  for  themselves,  covering  hides,  wool, 
and  ore.  The  measure  passed  the  Senate  early  iii 
July  and  became  a  law  July  24,  1897.  Senator 
William  B.  Allison,  of  Iowa,  was  largely  responsible 
for  its  final  passage,  although  the  law  continued  to 
bear  the  name  of  its  forgotten  originator,  Dingley. 

The  Kepublican  party  was  in  no  condition  in  1897  •' 
to  become  the  vehicle  of  the  non-partisan  reforms 
that  the  Populists  advocated  and  that  many  young 
Republicans  had  taken  up.  The  interest  in  tariff 
legislation  drove  everything  else  from  the  national 
organization,  while  returning  prosperity  destroyed 
the  mental  attitude  in  which  reforms  had  flourished. 
Political  introspection  was  less  easy  in  1897  and  1898 
than  it  had  been  in  the  years  of  confusion  and  en 
forced  economy  since  1890.  The  civil  service  and 
ballot  reforms  had  been  started  on  the  upward  course, 
but  party  machines  continued  in  control  of  each  great 
organization. 

The  conduct  of  the  Senate  discouraged  many  of 
the  reformers  in  the  spring  of  1897.  Cleveland  had 
left  in  its  hands  a  treaty  of  arbitration  with  Great 
Britain,  but  no  action  had  been  taken  upon  it  when 
he  left  office.  Arbitration  had  been  a  common  inter 
national  tool  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States.  Boundaries,  fisheries,  and  claims  had  repeat 
edly  been  submitted  to  courts  or  commissions  of 


256  THE  NEW  NATION 

varying  structure,  and  even  the  claims  affecting  the 
honor  of  Great  Britain  had  been  settled  by  arbitra 
tion  at  Geneva.  After  the  Venezuela  excitement 
friends  of  peace  gathered  in  a  convention  at  Lake 
Mohonk  to  discuss  the  extension  of  the  method  of 
arbitration.  When  Great  Britain  had  accepted  the 
principle  in  the  case  of  Venezuela,  Cleveland  en 
tered  into  a  general  arbitration  treaty,  which  was 
signed  at  Washington  in  February,  1897.  Public 
opinion  received  it  cordially,  but  the  Senate  was  slow 
to  take  it  up.  Late  in  the  spring  it  was  ratified  with 
amendments  that  destroyed  its  force  and  showed  the 
reluctance  of  Senators  to  accept  the  principle  of 
arbitration.  International  peace  was  thus  postponed, 
while  the  rising  insurrection  in  Cuba  drove  it  as  well 
as  general  reform  from  the  center  of  public  interest. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  American  Commonwealth  of  James  Bryce  (1888)  is  the 
starting-point  for  the  study  of  political  conditions  of  the  nine 
ties,  and  is  to  be  reinforced  by  W.  Wilson,  Congressional 
Government.  (1885),  T.  Roosevelt,  Essays  on  Practical  Politics 
(1888),  and  P.  L.  Ford,  The  Honorable  Peter  Stirling  (1894). 
Among  the  personal  narratives  the  most  useful  are  T.  Roose 
velt,  Fifty  Years  of  My  Life  (1913);  R.M.  LaFollette,^  Per 
sonal  Narrative  of  Political  Experiences  (1913;  also  published 
serially  in  the  American  Magazine,  1911,  as  "  Autobiography  ") ; 
Tom  L.  Johnson's  My  Story  (1911;  edited  by  E.  J.  Hauser); 
C.  Lloyd,  Henry  Demarest  Lloyd  (2  vols.,  1912)  ;  Autobiography 
of  Thomas  Collier  Platt  (1910  ;  edited  by  L.  J.  Lang,  and 
highly  unreliable);  and  Jane  Addams,  Twenty  Years  of  Hull 
House  (1910).  Much  light  is  thrown  upon  the  mechanics  of 
tariff  legislation  by  I.  M.  Tarbell,  The  Tariff  in  Our  Times 
(1911),  and  by  the  lobby  investigations  conducted  by  commit 
tees  of  Congress  in  1913,  and  by  the  campaign  fund  investiga- 


THE  "COUNTER-REFORMATION"     257 

tions  conducted  by  similar  committees  in  1912.  The  progress 
of  the  Australian  ballot  reform  must  be  traced  through  the 
periodicals,  as  it  has  no  good  history.  E.  C.  Meyer,  Nominating 
Systems :  Direct  Primaries  versus  Conventions  in  the  United  States 
(1902),  is  standard  in  its  field,  as  are  E.  P.  Oberholtzer,  The 
Referendum  in  America  (1893),  and  E.  C.  Stanton,  S.  B.  Anthony, 
and  M.  J.  Gage,  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  1848-1900  (4  vols., 
1881-1902).  The  Annual  Reports  of  the  Lake  Mohonk  Confer 
ences  on  International  Arbitration  are  a  useful  aid  in  tracing 
the  principles  of  arbitration. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   SPANISH   WAR 

CUBA  broke  out  in  one  of  her  numerous  insur 
rections  in  1895.  The  island  had  been  nominally 
quiet  since  the  close  of  the  Ten  Years'  War,  in  1878, 
but  had  always  been  an  object  of  American  interest. 
More  than  once  it  had  entered  into  American  diplo 
macy  to  bring  out  reiterations  of  different  phases 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Its  purchase  by  the  United 
States  had  been  desired  to  extend  the  slave  area,  or 
to  control  the  Caribbean,  or  to  enlarge  the  fruit  and 
sugar  plantation  area.  The  free  trade  in  sugar,  which 
the  McKinley  Bill  had  allowed,  ended  in  1894,  and 
almost  immediately  thereafter  the  native  population 
demanded  independence. 

The  revolt  of  1895  was  defended  and  justified  by 
a  recital  of  the  faults  of  Spanish  colonial  government. 
Caste  and  monopoly  played  a  large  part  in  Cuban 
life.  The  Spanish-born  held  the  offices,  enjoyed  the 
profits,  and  owned  or  managed  the  commercial  priv 
ileges.  The  western  end  of  the  island,  most  thickly 
settled  and  most  under  the  influence  of  Spain,  gave 
least  support  to  the  uprising,  but  in  the  east,  where 
the  Cubans  and  negroes  raised  and  ground  cane, 
or  grazed  their  herds,  discontent  at  the  system  of 
favoritism  and  race  discrimination  was  an  important 
political  force.  Here  the  insurgents  soon  gained  a 


ALASKA,  THE   PHILIPPINES,  AND  THE  SEAT  OF  THE 
SPANISH  WAR 


260  THE  NEW  NATION 

foothold  in  the  provinces  of  Santiago,  Puerto  Prin 
cipe,  and  Santa  Clara.  From  the  jungle  or  the  moun 
tains  they  sent  bands  of  guerrillas  against  the  sugar 
mills  and  plantations  of  the  ruling  class,  and  when 
pursued  their  troops  hid  their  weapons  and  became,  os 
tensibly,  peaceful  farmers.  A  revolutionary  govern 
ment,  sitting  safely  in  New  York,  directed  the  revolt, 
raised  money  by  playing  on  the  American  love  of 
freedom,  and  sent  cargoes  of  arms,  munitions,  and 
volunteers  to  the  seat  of  war.  Avoiding  pitched  bat 
tles  and  living  off  the  country,  the  patriot  forces  com 
pelled  Spain  to  put  some  200,000  troops  in  Cuba 
and  to  garrison  every  place  that  she  retained. 

Through  1895  and  1896  the  war  dragged  on  with 
no  prospect  of  victory  for  the  authorities  and  with 
growing  interest  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 
Public  sympathy  was  with  the  Cubans,  and  news 
from  the  front  was  so  much  desired  that  enterprising 
papers  sent  their  correspondents  to  the  scene  of  ac 
tion.  The  reports  of  these,  almost  without  exception, 
magnified  the  character  and  promise  of  the  native 
leaders  and  attacked  the  policy  of  the  Spanish  forces 
of  repression. 

The  insurgents  began,  in  1895,  a  policy  of  terror, 
destroying  the  cane  in  the  fields  of  loyalists  and 
burning  their  sugar  mills.  To  protect  the  loyalists 
and  repress  the  rebels  the  Queen  Regent  sent  Gen 
eral  Valeriano  Weyler  to  the  island  in  1896,  with 
orders  to  end  the  war.  Weyler  replied  to  devasta 
tion  with  concentration.  Unable  to  separate  the  loyal 
natives  from  the  disloyal,  or  to  prevent  the  latter 
from  aiding  the  rebels,  he  gathered  the  suspected 


THE  SPANISH  WAR  261 

population  into  huge  concentration  camps,  fortified 
his  towns  and  villages  with  sentinels  and  barbed- 
wire  fences,  and  endeavored  to  depopulate  the  area 
outside  his  lines.  American  public  opinion,  unused 
for  a  generation  to  the  sight  of  war,  was  shocked  by 
the  suffering  in  the  camps  and  was  aroused  in  moral 
protest.  Sympathy  with  the  insurgents  grew  in  1896 
and  1897,  as  exaggerated  tales  of  hardship  and 
brutality  were  circulated  by  the  "  yellow "  newspa 
pers.  The  evidence  was  one-sided  and  incomplete, 
and  often  dishonest,  but  it  was  effective  in  steering 
a  rising  public  opinion  toward  ultimate  interven 
tion. 

The  nearness  of  the  contest  brought  the  trouble 
to  the  United  States  Government  through  the  en 
forcement  of  the  neutrality  laws.  There  was  no  pub 
lic  war,  and  Spain  was  thus  unable  to  seize  or  ex 
amine  American  vessels  until  they  entered  actual 
Cuban  waters.  It  was  easy  to  run  the  Spanish  block 
ade  and  take  supplies  to  the  rebel  forces,  which  was 
a  permissible  trade.  It  was  easy,  too,  to  organize  and 
send  out  filibustering  parties,  which  were  highly 
illegal,  and  which  the  United  States  tried  to  stop. 
Out  of  seventy-one  known  attempts,  the  United  States 
broke  up  thirty-three,  while  other  Powers,  including 
Spain,  caught  only  eleven.  Enough  landed  to  be  a 
material  aid  to  the  natives  and  to  embitter  Spain 
in  her  criticism  of  the  United  States.  Cleveland 
issued  proclamations  against  the  unfriendly  acts  of 
citizens,  and  enforced  the  law  as  well  as  he  could 
in  a  population  and  with  juries  sympathizing  with 
the  law-breakers.  Even  in  Congress  he  found  little 


THE  NEW  NATION 

sympathy  in  his  attempt  to  maintain  a  sincere  neu 
trality. 

Congress  felt  the  popular  sympathy  with  the 
Cubans  and  responded  to  it,  as  well  as  to  the  de 
mands  of  Americans  with  investments  in  Cuba.  In 
the  spring  of  1896  both  houses  joined  in  a  resolution 
favoring  the  recognition  of  Cuban  belligerency.  This 
Cleveland  ignored.  In  December,  1896,  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  reported  a  resolu 
tion  for  the  recognition  of  Cuban  independence,  and 
individual  members  of  Congress  often  read  from  the 
newspapers  accounts  of  horror,  and  made  impassioned 
speeches  for  recognition  and  intervention.  But  Cleve 
land  kept  his  control  over  the  situation  until  he  left 
office,  as  Grant  had  done  during  the  Ten  Years'  War 
and  the  excitement  over  the  Virginius  affair.  He 
left  the  determination  of  the  time  and  manner  of 
ultimate  intervention  to  his  successor. 

Among  the  planks  of  the  Republican  platform  of 
1896  was  one  asserting  the  duty  of  the  United  States 
to  "  use  its  influence  and  good  offices  to  restore  peace 
and  give  independence  to  Cuba,"  but  there  is  no 
evidence  that  President  McKinley  contemplated  a 
forcible  intervention  when  he  organized  his  Cabinet. 
John  Sherman  had,  as  Senator,  spoken  freely  in 
sympathy  with  Cuba.  As  Secretary  of  State  he  re 
called  Hannis  Taylor  from  Madrid  and  sent  out 
General  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  with  instructions 
looking  toward  a  peaceful  mediation.  Not  until  the 
autumn  of  1897  was  it  possible  to  press  the  Cuban 
matter,  for  Spain  suffered  two  changes  of  Ministry 
and  the  murder  of  a  Prime  Minister.  But  by  the 


THE  SPANISH  WAR  263 

end  of  September  Spain  had  been  notified  that  Mc- 
Kinley  hoped  to  be  able  to  give  positive  assurances 
of  peace  to  Congress  when  it  met  in  December. 

A  Liberal  Government,  headed  by  Sagasta,  took 
office  in  Spain  in  October,  1897.  It  declined  media 
tion  by  the  United  States,  retorting  that  if  the 
United  States  were  to  enforce  the  law  of  neutrality 
the  war  would  soon  cease.  It  recalled  Weyler,  how 
ever,  sent  out  a  new  and  milder  governor-general, 
modified  the  reconcentrado  orders  that  had  so  en 
raged  the  United  States,  and  issued,  on  November 
25,  a  proclamation  establishing  a  sort  of  home 
rule,  or  autonomy,  for  Cuba.  In  the  winter  of  1897 
the  Spanish  Government  was  endeavoring  to  give 
no  excuse  for  American  intervention,  and  at  the 
same  time,  by  moderate  means,  to  restore  peace 
in  Cuba.  The  Spanish  population  of  Cuba  opposed 
autonomy  and  made  the  establishment  of  autonomous 
governments  a  farce.  In  January  there  were  riots  in 
Havana  among  the  loyal  subjects.  Outside  the  Span 
ish  lines  the  rebels  laughed  at  autonomy,  for  they 
were  determined  to  have  independence  or  nothing. 
Woodford,  in  touch  with  the  Spanish  Government, 
believed  that  in  the  long  run  the  Spanish  people 
would  let  the  Queen  Eegent  go  beyond  autonomy 
to  independence,  and  that  with  patience  Cuba  might 
be  relieved  of  Spanish  control. 

There  was  no  positive  news  for  Congress  in  De 
cember,  1897,  but  by  February  the  conditions  in 
Cuba  had  become  the  most  interesting  current  prob 
lem.  The  New  York  Journal  obtained  and  published 
a  private  letter  written  by  the  Spanish  Minister, 


264  THE  NEW  NATION 

De  Lome,  in  which  McKinley  was  characterized  as  a 
temporizing  politician.  The  Minister  had  no  sooner 
been  recalled  than  the  Maine,  a  warship  -that  had 
been  detached  from  the  North  Atlantic  Squadron, 
and  sent  to  Cuba  to  safeguard  American  citizens 
there,  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion  in  the  harbor 
of  Havana,  on  February  15,  1898.  There  was  no 
evidence  connecting  the  destruction  of  the  Maine 
with  any  person,  but  unscrupulous  newspapers  made 
capital  out  of  it,  using  the  catch-phrase,  "  Remem 
ber  the  Maine,"  to  inflame  a  public  mind  already 
aroused  by  sympathy  and  indignation.  After  Feb 
ruary,  only  a  determined  courage  could  have  with 
stood  the  demand  for  intervention  and  a  Spanish 
war. 

The  negotiations  with  Spain  continued  rapidly  in 
the  two  months  after  the  loss  of  the  Maine.  Mc 
Kinley  avoided  an  arbitral  inquiry  into  the  accident, 
urged  by  Spain,  but  pressed  increasingly  for  an  end 
of  concentration,  for  relief  for  the  suffering  popula 
tion,  and  for  full  self-government.  He  did  not  ask 
independence  for  Cuba,  and  every  demand  that  he 
made  was  assented  to  by  Spain.  Notwithstanding 
this,  on  April  11,  1898,  he  sent  the  Cuban  corres 
pondence  to  Congress,  urged  an  intervention,  and 
turned  the  control  of  the  situation  over  to  a  body 
that  had  for  two  years  been  clamoring  for  forcible 
interference.  Nine  days  later  Congress  resolved, 
"  That  the  people  of  the  Island  of  Cuba  are,  and  of 
right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent."  On  April 
21  the  Spanish  War  began. 

The  administrative  branches  of  the  Government 


THE  SPANISH  WAR  265 

had  made  some  preparations  for  war  before  the  decla 
ration.    The  navy  was  small  but  modern.    It  dated 
from  the  early  eighties,  when  Congress  was  roused 
to  a  realization  that  the  old  Civil  War  navy  was 
obsolete  and  began  to  authorize  the  construction  of 
modern  fighting  ships.  The  "  White  Squadron  "  took 
shape  in  the  years  after  1893.  Only  two  armored  I 
cruisers  were  in  commission  when  Harrison  left  office,/ 
but  the  number  increased  rapidly  until  McKinlew 
had  available  for  use  the   second-class    battleships 
Maine  and  Texas,  the  armored  cruiser  Brooklyn,  ana 
the  first-class  battleships  Iowa,  Indiana,  Massachu 
setts,  and   Oregon.  From  the  beginning  of  the  Mc- 
Kinley  Administration  these,  as  well  as  the  lesser 
vessels  of  all  grades,  were  diligently  drilled  and  or 
ganized.  The  new  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  had  foreseen  and  hoped  for  war 
He  spent  the  contingent  funds  on  target  practice,  anc 
had  the  naval  machine  at  its  highest  efficiency  wher 
the  Maine  was  lost.  On  March  9,  1898,  Congress, 
in  a  few  hours,  put  150,000,000  at  the  disposal  oJ 
the  President  for  national  defense,  and  the  navy 
spent  its  share  of  this  for  new  vessels,  transports,  and 
equipment.  The  vessels  in  the  Orient  were  mobilized 
at  Hongkong  under  the  command  of  Commodore 
George  Dewey  ;  the  Oregon,  on  station  in  the  Pacific, 
was  ordered  home  by  the  long  route  around  the  Horn ; 
the  ships  in  the  Atlantic  were  assembled  off  the 
Chesapeake.  Part  of  the  latter  were  organized  as  a 
flying  squadron,  for  patrol,  under  Commodore  Win- 
field  Scott  Schley,  while  toward  the  end  of  March 
Captain  William  T.  Sampson  was  promoted  over  the 


266  THE  NEW  NATION 

heads  of  many  ranking  officers  and  given  command 
of  the  whole  North  Atlantic  Squadron,  including  the 
fleet  of  Schley. 

Congress  debated  a  new  army  bill  while  the  navy 
was  being  prepared  for  war.  Not  until  April  22  did  it 
permit  the  enlargement  of  the  little  regular  army  of 
25,000.  Until  war  had  begun  the  volunteers, of  whom 
some  216,000  were  taken  into  the  service,  could  not 
be  called  out  or  made  ready  for  the  field.  Some  pre 
parations  were  made  within  the  War  Department, 
but  the  little  staff  of  clerks,  used  to  the  small  routine 
of  the  peace  basis,  and  having  no  plan  of  enlarge 
ment  or  mobilization  worked  out,  made  little  head 
way.  The  navy  was  ready  to  strike  the  day  war  was 
declared,  but  the  army  had  yet  to  be  planned,  re 
cruited,  clothed,  drilled,  and  transported  to  the  front. 
The  men  of  the  navy  knew  their  duty  and  were  ready 
for  it;  in  the  army  thousands  of  civilians  had  to 
blunder  through  the  duties  of  strange  offices.  Wil 
liam  J.  Bryan  accepted  the  colonelcy  in  a  Nebraska 
regiment.  Theodore  Roosevelt  resigned  his  office  in 
the  Navy  Department  to  raise  a  regiment  of  volun 
teer  cavalry.  Politicians  struggled  for  commissions 
for  themselves  and  friends.  Civil  War  veterans  fought 
for  reappointment,  and  enough  soldiers  of  the  Con 
federacy  put  on  the  blue  uniforms,  or  sent  their  sons, 
to  show  that  the  breach  had  been  healed  between  the 
North  and  South.  It  was  an  enthusiastic  rather  than 
an  effective  army  that  was  brought  together  in  the 
two  months  after  the  war  began. 

Cuba,  the  cause  of  the  war  and  its  objective,  was 
the  center  of  the  scheme  of  strategy.  The  navy  was 


THE  SPANISH  WAR  267 

called  upon  to  protect  the  Atlantic  seaboard  from 
the  fleet  of  Spain,  which  was  reputed  to  be  superior 
to  that  of  the  United  States.  It  had  also  to  maintain 
a  blockade  of  Cuba  and  prevent  the  landing  of  rein 
forcements  until  the  army  could  be  prepared  to  in 
vade  the  island.  Dewey's  fleet  in  the  Pacific  was 
ordered  to  destroy  the  Spanish  naval  force  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,  and  moved  immediately  upon 
Manila  when  Great  Britain  issued  her  proclamation 
of  neutrality  and  made  it  impossible  to  remain  longer 
in  her  waters  at  Hongkong. 

On  the  morning  of  May  1  Dewey  led  his  squadron 
past  the  forts,  over  the  submerged  mines,  and  up  the 
channel  of  Manila  Bay.  The  Spanish  forces  in  the 
islands,  already  contending  with  a  native  insurrection, 
were  helpless  before  evening,  having  lost  the  whole 
fleet.  Dewey  was  left  in  a  position  to  take  the  city 
when  he  chose,  and  sent  home  word  to  that  effect. 
He  waited  in  the  harbor  until  an  army  of  occupation 
had  been  got  ready,  hurried  to  the  transports  at  San 
Francisco,  and  sent  out  under  General  Wesley 
Merritt.  He  brought  the  native  leader  Aguinaldo 
back  to  the  islands,  whence  he  had  been  expelled,  to 
foment  insurrection.  The  first  American  reinforce 
ments  arrived  at  Manila  by  the  end  of  June.  On 
August  13  they  took  the  city. 

Before  the  news  of  the  surprising  victory  at  Manila 
reached  the  United  States  there  was  nervousness 
along  the  Atlantic  Coast  because  of  the  uncertain 
plans  of  the  main  Spanish  fleet,  which  had  left  the 
Cape  Verde  Islands,  under  Admiral  Cervera,  on  April 
29,  and  which  might  appear  off  New  York  or  Boston 


268  THE  NEW  NATION 

at  any  time.  The  naval  strategists  knew  it  must  be 
headed  for  the  West  Indies,  but  seaboard  Congress 
men  begged  excitedly  for  protection,  and  the  sensa 
tional  newspapers  pictured  the  coast  in  ruins  after 
bombardment. 

To  Sampson  and  Schley  was  assigned  the  task  of 
guarding  the  coast,  keeping  up  the  blockade,  and 
finding  Cervera's  fleet  before  it  reached  a  harbor  in 
American  waters.  San  Juan,  Santiago  de  Cuba,  Cien- 
fuegos,  and  Havana  were  the  only  probable  destina 
tions.  Sampson  watched  the  north  side  of  Cuba  and 
Porto  Eico,  while  Schley  and  the  flying  squadron 
moved  to  Key  West,  and  on  May  19  started  around 
the  west  end  of  Cuba  to  patrol  the  southern  shore. 
On  that  same  day,  entirely  unobserved,  Cervera 
slipped  into  the  port  of  Santiago,  at  the  eastern  ex 
tremity  of  Cuba.  When  the  rumor  of  his  arrival 
reached  Sampson  at  Key  West,  Schley  was  already 
well  on  his  way  and  firm  in  his  belief  that  Cervera 
was  heading  for  Cienfuegos. 

The  flying  squadron,  impeded  by  its  colliers  and 
its  tenders,  moved  deliberately  around  Cuba  to  Cien 
fuegos,  outside  of  whose  harbor  it  remained  for  two 
days.  Here  Sampson's  orders  to  proceed  immediately 
to  Santiago  reached  it.  On  May  26  the  fleet  was  off 
the  entrance  to  Santiago  Harbor,  and  in  this  vi 
cinity  it  stayed  for  two  more  days.  Schley  could 
get  no  news  that  Cervera  was  here ;  he  feared  that 
his  coal  would  give  out  and  that  heavy  seas  would 
prevent  his  getting  what  coal  he  had  out  of  his  col 
liers.  He  decided,  in  spite  of  orders,  to  go  back 
to  Key  West;  he  started  a  retrograde  movement, 


THE  SPANISH  WAR  269 

reconsidered  it,  and  was  again  on  blockade  when, 
early  on  Sunday  morning,  May  29,  he  discovered 
the  Spanish  fleet  at  anchor  in  the  channel,  where  it 
had  been  for  the  last  nine  days. 

The  blockade  of  Santiago  was  strengthened  on 
June  1  by  the  arrival  of  Sampson,  who  had  rushed 
thither  on  hearing  that  Schley  had  decided  to  leave 
the  post.  The  two  fleets  were  merged,  and  Schley, 
outranked  by  Sampson,  became  a  passenger  on  his 
flagship  Brooklyn.  By  day,  the  warships,  ranged  in 
a  great  half-circle,  watched  the  narrow  outlet  of  the 
harbor.  By  night  they  took  turns  standing  close  in, 
with  searchlights  playing  on  the  entrance.  For  five 
weeks  they  kept  this  up,  not  entering  the  harbor 
because  of  their  positive  orders  not  to  risk  the  loss 
of  any  fighting  units,  and  waited  for  the  arrival  of 
an  army  to  cooperate  with  them  against  the  land 
defenses  of  Santiago. 

Sampson  asked  for  military  aid  early  in  June, 
and  on  June  7  the  War  Department  ordered  the 
army  that  had  been  mobilized  at  Tampa  to  go  to  his 
assistance.  General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  in  command 
of  the  army,  was  not  allowed  to  head  the  expedition, 
but  was  kept  at  home  while  General  William  R. 
Shafter  directed  the  field  work.  At  Tampa  there 
was  almost  hopeless  confusion.  The  single  track 
railway  that  supplied  the  camp  was  unable  to  move 
promptly  either  men  or  munitions,  the  Quarter 
master's  Department  sent  down  whole  trainloads  of 
supplies  without  bills  of  lading,  and  when  the  troops 
were  at  last  on  board  the  fleet  of  transports  they 
were  kept  in  the  river  for  a  week  before  they  were 


270  THE  NEW  NATION 

allowed  to  start  for  Santiago.  Sixteen  thousand 
men,  mostly  regulars,  with  nearly  one  'thousand  offi 
cers  and  two  hundred  war  correspondents,  sailed  on 
June  14,  and  were  in  conference  with  Sampson  six 
days  later. 

A  misunderstanding  as  to  strategy  arose  in  this 
conference.  Sampson  left  it  believing  that  the  army 
would  land  and  move  directly  along  the  shore  against 
the  batteries  that  covered  the  entrance  to  the  har 
bor.  Shafter,  however,  though  he  issued  no  general 
order  to  that  effect,  was  determined  to  march  inland 
upon  the  city  of  Santiago  itself.  On  June  22  and 
23  the  army  was  landed  by  the  navy,  for  it  had 
neither  boats  nor  lighters  of  its  own.  The  first 
troops,  climbing  ashore  at  the  railway  pier  at  Dai 
quiri,  marched  west  along  the  coast  to  Siboney, 
and  then  plunged  inland,  each  regiment  for  itself, 
along  the  narrow  jungle  trail  leading  to  Santiago. 
Shafter  himself,  corpulent  and  sick,  followed  as  he 
could.  Before  he  established  his  control  over  the 
army  on  land  the  head  of  the  column  had  engaged 
the  enemy  at  Las  Guasimas,  nine  miles  from  Santi 
ago,  on  June  24.  The  First  Volunteer  Cavalry, 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Leonard  M.  Wood, 
with  Theodore  Roosevelt  as  lieutenant-colonel,  had 
marched  most  of  the  night  in  order  to  be  in  the 
first  fighting.  After  a  sharp  engagement  the  Span 
ish  retired  and  the  American  advance  upon  Santiago 
continued  in  a  more  orderly  fashion. 

The  narrow  trail  between  Siboney,  on  the  shore, 
and  Santiago,  was  some  twelve  miles  long.  There 
were  dense  forests  on  both  sides.  Along  this  the 


THE  SPANISH  WAR  271 

American  army  stretched  itself  at  the  end  of  June. 
There  were  few  ambulances  or  wagons,  and  they 
could  not  have  been  used  if  they  had  been  more 
numerous.  Rations  for  the  front  were  packed  on 
mules  or  horses.  The  troops,  hurried  to  the  tropics 
in  the  heavy,  dark,  winter  clothing  of  the  regular 
army,  suffered  from  heat,  rain,  and  irregular  ra 
tions.  Before  them  the  San  Juan  River  crossed  the 
trail  at  right  angles.  Beyond  this  were  low  hills 
carrying  the  fortifications,  trenches,  and  wire  fences 
of  Santiago,  behind  which  the  Spanish  force  could 
fight  with  every  advantage  in  its  favor.  Some  five 
miles  to  the  right  of  the  line  of  advance  was  the 
Spanish  left,  in  a  blockhouse  at  El  Caney.  On  the 
night  before  July  1,  the  American  army  moved  on 
a  concerted  plan  against  the  whole  Spanish  line. 

Lawton,  with  a  right  wing,  moved  against  El 
Caney,  with  the  idea  of  demolishing  it  and  crum 
pling  up  the  Spanish  left.  The  main  column  followed 
the  trail,  crossed  the  San  Juan  River,  and  stormed 
the  hills  beyond.  The  fight  lasted  all  day  on  July  1, 
leaving  the  American  forces  to  sleep  in  the  Spanish 
trenches,  and  to  re-face  them  the  next  day.  There 
was  more  fighting  on  July  2  and  3,  after  which 
Santiago  was  besieged  by  land,  as  it  had  been  by 
sea  since  June  1. 

Cervera  watched  the  invading  army  with  growing 
desperation.  He  knew  the  inefficiency  of  his  fleet, 
that  it  had  left  Spain  unprepared  because  public 
opinion  demanded  immediate  action,  that  its  guns 
were  lacking  and  its  morale  low,  that  if  it  stayed  at 
anchor  in  the  harbor  it  would  be  taken  by  the  army, 


272  THE  NEW  NATION 

and  that  if  it  went  to  sea  it  would  be  annihilated  by 
Sampson.  His  only  chance  was  to  rush  out,  scatter 
in  flight,  and  trust  to  luck.  On  Sunday,  July  3,  he  led 
his  ships  out  of  the  harbor  in  single  file,  turned  west 
against  the  Brooklyn,  which  guarded  the  American 
left,  and  endeavored  to  escape. 

Sampson  had  already  issued  orders  for  battle  in 
case  Cervera  should  come  out.  He  had  himself 
started  with  his  flagship,  the  New  York,  for  a  con 
ference  with  Shafter,  and  was  some  seven  miles  east 
of  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  when  the  fleet  ap 
peared  and  the  battle  began.  He  turned  at'  once 
to  the  long  chase  that  pursued  the  Spanish  vessels 
along  the  Cuban  shore.  The  Brooklyn,  at  which 
Cervera  had  headed,  instead  of  closing,  circled  to 
the  right,  and  nearly  rammed  her  neighbor,  the 
Texas,  before  she  regained  her  place  at  the  head  of 
the  pursuit.  Schley  was  the  ranking  officer  in  the 
battle,  but  no  one  needed  or  heeded  the  orders 
that  he  signaled  to  the  other  ships.  Before  sundown 
the  Spanish  fleet  was  completely  destroyed. 

The  land  and  naval  battles  at  Santiago  brought 
the  Spanish  War  to  an  end.  For  several  weeks  the 
army  kept  up  the  investment,  with  health  and 
morale  steadily  deteriorating.  On  July  17  the  Span 
ish  army  at  Santiago  was  surrendered.  On  July  27 
an  invasion  of  Porto  Rico  under  General  Miles  took 
place,  and  on  August  12  the  preliminaries  of  peace 
were  signed  on  behalf  of  Spain  by  the  French  Min 
ister  at  Washington.  Manila  fell  the  next  day,  and 
the  war  closed  with  the  American  army  in  possession 
of  the  most  valuable  of  Spain's  remaining  colonies. 


THE  SPANISH  WAR  273 

The  Spanish  and  American  peace  commissioners 
met  in  Paris  in  October  to  fix  a  basis  for  settlement. 
An  American  demand  that  Cuba  should  be  set  free, 
without  debt,  and  left  to  the  tutelage  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  Porto  Rico  should  become  an 
American  possession,  was  formulated  early  in  the 
autumn.  There  was  less  certainty  about  the  retention 
of  the  Philippines,  for  here  the  desire  for  expansion 
was  checked  by  a  conservative  opposition  to  the  adop 
tion  of  foreign  colonies.  The  evil  effects  of  imperial 
ism  were  already  being  pictured  by  those  who  had 
opposed  the  war.  The  difficulties  of  returning  the 
islands  to  Spain  were  greater  than  those  involved  in 
their  retention,  and  McKinley  finally  determined 
that  the  cession  must  include  the  Philippine  Archi 
pelago,  and  the  island  of  Guam  in  the  Ladrones. 
The  chief  of  the  American  commissioners  was  Wil 
liam  R.  Day,  who  had  become  Secretary  of  State 
early  in  the  war,  and  who  was  succeeded  in  that  post 
by  John  Hay.  Under  his  direction  the  Treaty  of 
Paris  was  signed  December  10,  1898. 

The  war  and  the  conquest  of  the  Philippines 
hastened  another  though  peaceful  expansion.  The 
Hawaiian  Islands  had  been  a  matter  of  interest  to 
the  United  States  since  the  American  missionaries 
had  begun  to  work  there  in  the  thirties.  A  growing, 
American,  sugar-raising  population  had  long  hoped 
for  annexation  and  had  carried  out  a  successful  revo 
lution  shortly  before  1893.  Harrison  had  concluded 
a  treaty  of  annexation  with  the  provisional  govern 
ment,  but  Cleveland  had  refused  to  approve  it.  On 
July  7,  1898,  however,  the  Newlands  Resolution 


274  THE  NEW  NATION 

accomplished  the  annexation  of  the  republic,  and  in 
1900  a  regular  territorial  government  was  provided 
for  the  group  of  islands.  The  spectacular  journey  of 
the  Oregon  around  Cape  Horn  revived  the  demand 
for  an  isthmian  canal.  Expansion  suddenly  took  pos 
session  of  the  American  mind,  and  a  new  idea  of 
duty,  summed  up  by  Rudyard  Kipling  in  The  White 
Man's  Burden,  filled  a  large  portion  of  the  press. 

The  United  States  had  suddenly  passed  from  in 
ternal  debate  over  free  silver  to  war  and  conquest. 
At  the  end  of  1898  the  War  Department,  that  had 
proved  its  inadequacy  in  nearly  every  phase  of  the 
war,  was  forced  to  develop  a  colonial  policy  for  Porto 
Kico  and  the  Philippines  and  to  guide  Cuba  to  inde 
pendence.  It  was  still  under  the  direction  of  General 
Russell  A.  Alger,  but  was  torn  by  dissension  and 
criticism  upon  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Not  until 
Alger  was  asked  to  retire,  in  1899,  and  Elihu  Root, 
of  New  York,  succeeded  him,  was  the  War  Depart 
ment  made  equal  to  its  task. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  best  account  of  the  war  with  Spain  is  F.  E.  Chadwick, 

Relations  of  the  United  States  and  Spain:  Diplomacy  (1909),  and 
Relations  of  the  United  States  and  Spain :  The  Spanish  A  meri- 
can  War  (2  vols.,  1911).  These  works  have  in  large  measure 
superseded  the  earlier  studies  ;  J.  M.  Callahan,  Cuba  and  In 
ternational  Relations  (1899)  ;  J.  H.  Latane",  The  Diplomatic  Re 
lations  of  the  United  States  and  Spanish  America  (1900  : —  so 
far  as  it  relates  to  Cuba)  ;  H.  E.  Flack,  Spanish- American 
Diplomatic  Relations  preceding  the  war  of  1898  (in  Johns  Hop 
kins  University  Studies,  vol.  xxiv)  ;  and  E.  J.  Benton,  Inter 
national  Law  and  Diplomacy  of  the  Spanish-American  War 
(1908).  Useful  narratives  relating  to  the  army  are  R.  A.  Alger, 


THE  SPANISH  WAR  275 

The  Spanish-American  War  (1901)  ;  H.  H.  Sargent,  The 
Campaign  of  Santiago  de  Cuba  (3  vols.,  1907)  ;  J.  Wheeler,  The 
Santiago  Campaign  (1899)  ;  J.  D.  Miley,  In  Cuba  with  Shafter 
(1899)  ;  and  T.  Roosevelt,  The  Rough  Riders  (1899).  The 
navy  may  be  followed  in  J.  D.  Long,  The  New  American  Navy 
(2  vols.,  1903)  ;  E.  S.  Maclay,  History  of  the  United  States  Navy 
(3  vols.,  1901,  the  third  volume  containing  allegations  that 
precipitated  the  Schley-Sampson  controversy) ;  G.  E.  Graham, 
Schley  and  Santiago  (1902)  ;  W.  S.  Schley,  Forty-Jive  Years 
under  the  Flag  (1904) ;  W.  A.  M.  Goode,  With  Sampson  through 
the  War  (1899).  The  public  documents  of  the  war  are  easily 
accessible,  especially  in  the  Annual  Reports  for  1898  of  the 
Secretaries  of  War  and  Navy,  and  in  the  Foreign  Relations 
volume  for  that  year.  The  controversies  after  the  war  illumi 
nated  many  details,  particularly  the  Schley  Inquiry  (57th  Con 
gress,  1st  Session,  House  Document,  no.  485,  Serial  nos.  4370, 
4371),  and  the  Miles-Eagan  Inquiry  (56th  Congress,  1st  Ses 
sion,  Senate  Document,  no.  270,  Serial  uos.  3870-3872). 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THEODORE   ROOSEVELT 

OUT  of  the  humiliating  debates  upon  the  war,  on 
the  capacity  of  Alger  and  Shafter,  on  the  manage 
ment  of  the  commissary  and  the  field  hospitals,  on 
the  failure  of  Sampson  and  Shafter  to  cooperate,  on 
the  tactics  and  the  alleged  weakness  of  Schley,  and 
on  the  diplomatic  sincerity  of  McKinley,  only  one 
name  caught  the  public  ear.  The  only  career  that 
placed  a  soldier  in  line  for  political  promotion  was 
that  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  who  was  still  under 
forty  years  of  age,  although  he  had  lived  a  keen, 
aggressive,  and  public  life  for  nearly  twenty  years. 
Just  out  of  Harvard  in  1880,  Roosevelt  entered 
the  rough  and  tumble  of  New  York  politics.  He 
was  a  reform  legislator  when  Cleveland  was  gov 
ernor,  and  an  opponent  of  the  nomination  of  Blaine 
in  1884.  He  did  not  fight  the  ticket  or  turn  Mug 
wump,  for  he  had  already  formed  a  political  philos 
ophy,  that  only  those  who  stayed  within  the  party 
could  be  efficient  in  reform ;  but  he  dropped  out  of 
the  ranks  and  took  up  ranch  life  in  the  West.  Har 
rison  made  him  a  Civil  Service  Commissioner  and 
supported  him  in  a  stern  administration  of  the  merit 
system.  Before  he  left  this  office  in  1895,  to  be 
come  Police  Commissioner  of  New  York  City,  the 
breezy  and  vigorous  assaults  of  Roosevelt  upon 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  277 

political  corruption  had  already  marked  him  as  a 
reformer  of  a  new  type,  who  remained  an  active 
politician  and  a  party  man  without  losing  his  interest 
in  reform.  As  police  commissioner  he  gained  new 
fame  and  more  admirers.  In  1897  he  took  the  post 
of  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  prepared  for 
war.  He  had  already  found  time  to  write  many 
books  on  the  West,  reform,  naval  history,  and  out 
door  life.  He  resigned  his  post  in  April,  1898,  on 
the  eve  of  war,  raised  a  regiment  of  volunteers, 
which  the  public  speedily  named  the  "  Rough  Riders," 
kept  his  men  in  the  center  of  the  stage  while  there 
was  fighting,  risked  and  violated  all  theories  of  dis 
cipline  to  attack  the  sanitary  policy  of  the  Adminis 
tration  in  the  autumn,  and  in  October  received  the 
nomination  of  his  party  for  Governor  of  New  York, 
over  the  ill-concealed  opposition  of  Thomas  Collier 
Platt. 

During  the  campaign  of  1898  Roosevelt  carried 
his  candidacy  to  the  voter  in  every  part  of  the  State. 
He  spoke  from  rear  platforms  day  after  day.  Rough 
Riders,  in  uniform,  accompanied  his  party  and  rein 
forced  his  appeal  to  mixed  motives  of  good  gov 
ernment  and  patriotic  fervor.  He  was  elected  in 
November,  and  on  the  same  day  the  Republican  con 
trol  of  Congress  was  assured.  It  was  made  possible 
for  the  party  to  fulfill  the  last  of  the  obligations  laid 
upon  it  by  the  election  of  1896. 

A  currency  act,  passed  in  March,  1900,  was  the 
result  of  Republican  success.  It  established  the  gold 
dollar  by  law  as  the  standard  of  value,  legalized  the 
gold  reserve  at  1150,000,000,  and  made  it  the  duty 


278  THE  NEW  NATION 

of  the  Treasury  to  keep  at  a  parity  with  gold 
the  1313,000,000  of  Civil  War  greenbacks,  the 
$550,000,000  of  silver  and  silver  certificates,  the 
$75,000,000  of  Sherman  Act  treasury  notes,  as 
well  as  the  national  bank  notes,  which  aggregated 
$300,000,000  in  1900.  The  law  left  the  currency 
far  from  satisfactory  in  that  it  made  it  dependent 
upon  redemption,  and  hence  liable  to  sudden  changes 
in  value,  but  it  silenced  the  fear  of  free-silver  coinage, 
In  the  spring  of  1900  Congress  was  forced  to  con 
sider  the  basis  of  colonial  government.  Governments 
similar  to  those  of  the  Territories  were  provided  for 
Hawaii  and  Porto  Rico,  but  a  troublesome  revolt 
prevented  such  treatment  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 
There  had  been  a  native  insurrection  in  these  islands 
before  the  Spanish  Wrar  began,  and  the  aid  of  the 
rebels  had  made  it  easier  for  the  United  States  to 
overthrow  the  power  of  Spain.  Instead  of  receiving 
a  pledge  of  independence,  as  Cuba  did,  the  islands 
became  a  territorial  possession  of  the  United  States. 
In  February,  1899,  under  the  native  leader,  Emilio 
Aguinaldo,  insurrection  broke  out  against  the  United 
States  and  received  the  sympathy  of  large  numbers 
of  Americans.  The  spectacle  of  the  United  States 
subduing  a  spirit  of  independence  in  the  Philippines 
aroused  and  stimulated  the  movement  of  anti-imperi 
alism  that  had  fought  against  the  acquisition  of  the 
islands.  The  incompatibility  of  republican  institu 
tions  and  foreign  colonies,  the  demoralizing  influence 
of  ruling  on  the  ruling  class,  the  lesson  of  the  fall  of 
Rome,  were  held  up  before  the  public.  Carl  Schurz 
was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  protest,  and  his  follow- 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  279 

ers  included  many  whose  names  were  already  well 
known  in  the  advocacy  of  tariff  and  civil  service 
reform.  In  1901  the  Supreme  Court  upheld  the 
constitutionality  of  expansion  and  imperial  control. 
The  people  had  already  decided  in  their  favor  in 
1900. 

There  was  no  contest  for  either  nomination  in  the 
campaign  of  1900.  Bryan  had  established  his  right 
to  the  leadership  that  had  come  to  him  by  chance  in 
1896.  Although  conservative  Democrats  still  dis 
trusted  him,  their  voices  were  drowned  by  the  popu 
lar  approval  of  his  honesty  and  humanity.  "Four 
years  ago,"  said  Altgeld,  in  the  Democratic  Conven 
tion  at  Kansas  City,  "we  quit  trimming,  we  quit 
using  language  that  has  a  double  meaning.  .  .  . 
We  went  forth  armed  with  that  strength  that  comes 
from  candor  and  sincerity  and  we  fought  the  great 
est  campaign  ever  waged  on  the  American  continent. 
.  .  .  [For]  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  this  Re 
public  the  Democracy  of  America  have  risen  up  in 
favor  of  one  man."  On  a  platform  that  repeated  the 
currency  demands  of  1896  and  denounced  imperial 
ism,  Bryan  was  unanimously  renominated,  with  Adlai 
E.  Stevenson  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 

The  emphatic  denunciation  of  imperialism  brought 
to  Bryan  and  Stevenson  the  support  of  a  group 
of  independents,  —  the  "  hold-your-nose-and-vote  " 
group,  as  the  Republican  press  called  them,  —  who 
were  strong  for  the  gold  standard,  but  believed  that 
currency  was  less  fundamental  than  imperialism. 
The  Republican  party  had  accepted  and  approved 
the  war  and  the  benevolent  intentions  of  the  United 


280  THE  NEW  NATION 

States,  and  had  renominated  McKinley  at  Philadel 
phia,  without  a  dissenting  voice.  Vice-President 
Hobart  had  died  in  office,  or  the  original  ticket 
might  have  been  continued.  As  a  substitute,  rumor 
had  attacked  the  name  of  Governor  Eoosevelt,  while 
Senator  Platt,  preferring  not  to  have  him  reflected 
Governor  of  New  York,  had  encouraged  his  boom 
for  the  Vice-Presidency.  Repeatedly,  in  the  spring 
of  1900,  Roosevelt  declared  that  he  would  not  seek 
or  accept  the  Vice-Presidency.  Hanna  and  McKinley 
did  not  desire  him  on  the  ticket,  but  at  the  conven 
tion  the  delegates  broke  down  all  resistance  and 
forced  him  to  accept  the  nomination. 

The  policy  of  dignity,  which  McKinley  had  as 
sumed  in  1896,  was  continued  by  him  in  1900,  but 
the  vice-presidential  candidate  proved  the  equal  of 
Bryan  as  a  campaigner.  In  hundreds  of  speeches, 
reaching  nearly  every  State,  they  carried  their  per 
sonality  to  the  voters.  The  two  issues,  imperialism 
and  free  silver,  divided  the  voters  along  different 
lines,  but  the  Administration  had  an  economic  basis 
for  support  in  the  recovery  of  business  on  every 
hand.  The  Republicans  took  credit  for  the  general 
and  abundant  prosperity,  and  their  cartoonists  em 
phasized  the  idea  of  the  "full  dinner  pail"  as  a 
reason  for  continued  support.  A  smaller  percentage 
of  citizens  voted  than  in  1896,  for  the  issue  was  less 
clear  than  it  had  been  then.  Many  who  were  discon 
tented  with  both  candidates  voted  with  the  Prohibi 
tionists  or  Socialists.  The  Republican  ticket  was 
elected,  with  292  electoral  votes,  as  against  155  re 
ceived  by  Bryan  and  Stevenson.  A  continuance  of 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  281 

the  Republican  control  of  Congress  was  assured  at 
the  same  time. 

William  McKinley  was  the  first  President  after 
Grant  to  receive  a  second  consecutive  term.  He  made 
few  changes  in  his  Cabinet  in  1901.  Elihu  Root 
remained  in  the  War  Department,  for  the  sake  of 
which  he  had  refused  to  consider  the  Vice-Presidency, 
and  strove  for  order  in  the  Philippines,  in  Cuba,  and 
in  the  United  States  Army  itself.  John  Hay,  as 
Secretary  of  State,  continued  his  correspondence  with 
the  Powers  over  the  Chinese  revolt,  without  a  break. 

Only  Seward  and  John  Quincy  Adams  can  rival 
John  Hay  as  successful  American  Ministers  of  For 
eign  Affairs.  Born  in  the  Middle  West  in  1838,  Hay 
served  in  Lincoln's  household  as  a  private  secretary 
throughout  the  Civil  War.  He  held  minor  appoint 
ments  after  this  and  alternated  diplomatic  experience 
with  literary  production.  The  monumental  Life  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  partly  his  work.  His  grace 
ful  verse  gained  for  him  a  wide  reading.  His  anony 
mous  novel,  The  Breadwinners,  was  an  important 
document  in  the  early  labor  movement.  McKinley 
sent  him  to  London  as  Ambassador  in  1897,  follow 
ing  the  tradition  that  only  the  best  in  the  United 
States  may  go  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  and  had 
recalled  him  to  be  Secretary  of  State  in  the  fall  of 
1898.  The  Boxer  outbreak  in  China  in  1900  gave 
the  first  opening  to  the  new  diplomacy  of  the  United 
States,  broadened  out  of  its  insularity  by  the  Span 
ish  War  and  interested  in  the  attainment  of  inter 
national  ideas.  Hay  led  in  the  adjustment  which 
settled  the  Chinese  claims,  opened  the  door  of  China 


282  THE  NEW  NATION 

to  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and  prevented  her 
dismemberment.  He  was  still  engaged  in  this  cor 
respondence  when  President  McKinley  was  murdered 
by  an  anarchist,  and  Theodore  Roosevelt  became 
President  of  the  United  States,  September  14, 1901. 

In  the  hurried  inaugural  ceremony  held  in  the 
Buffalo  residence  in  which  McKinley  died,  Roose 
velt  declared  his  intention  to  continue  the  term  as 
his  predecessor  had  begun  it.  He  insisted  that  all 
the  members  of  the  Cabinet  should  remain  with  him, 
as  they  did  for  considerable  periods.  He  took  up  the 
work  where  it  had  been  dropped,  and  for  some 
months  it  was  not  apparent  that  a  change  had  been 
made  from  a  party  administration  to  a  personal 
administration.  The  suave  and  cordial  tolerance  of 
McKinley  was  succeeded  by  the  aggressive  certainty 
of  his  successor.  Through  John  Hay's  skillful  hand 
this  new  tone  made  a  deeper  impression  on  the 
politics  of  the  world  than  had  that  of  any  President 
since  Washington  gave  forth  the  doctrine  of  neu 
trality. 

Cuba  was  a  pending  problem.  The  American  army, 
under  General  Leonard  Wood,  had  cleaned  up  the 
island.  The  medical  service  had  learned  to  isolate 
the  mosquito,  and  had  expelled  the  scourge  of  yellow 
fever.  The  natives  formed  a  constitution  which  be 
came  effective  on  May  20,  1902.  On  this  day  the 
United  States  withdrew  from  the  new  Republic,  leav 
ing  it  to  manage  its  own  affairs,  subject  only  to  a 
pledge  that  it  would  forever  maintain  its  independ 
ence,  that  it  would  incur  no  debt  without  providing 
the  means  for  settling  it,  and  that  the  United  States 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  283 

might  lawfully  intervene  to  protect  its  independence  or 
maintain  responsible  government.  In  the  winter  of 
1901-02  Roosevelt  urged  Congress  to  adopt  a  policy 
of  commercial  reciprocity  with  Cuba.  He  was  sup 
ported  in  this  by  opinion  in  Cuba,  and  by  officials 
of  the  American  Sugar  Trust,  but  was  opposed  in 
the  Senate  by  a  combination  of  beet-sugar  Republi 
cans  and  cane-sugar  Democrats.  The  measure  failed 
in  1902,  creating  bad  feeling  between  President 
and  Congress,  but  a  treaty  of  modified  reciprocity 
was  ratified  in  1903. 

In  1902  the  United  States  became  the  first  suitor 
to  test  the  efficacy  of  the  new  court  of  arbitration  at 
The  Hague.  In  1898  the  Czar  of  Russia  had  invited 
the  countries  represented  at  St.  Petersburg  to  join 
in  a  conference  upon  disarmament.  His  motives  were 
questioned  and  derided,  but  the  conference  met  the 
next  summer  at  Huis  ten  Bosch,  the  summer  palace 
of  the  Queen  of  the  Netherlands,  at  The  Hague. 
Here  the  plan  of  disarmament  proved  futile,  but  a 
great  treaty  for  the  settlement  of  international  dis 
putes  was  accepted  by  the  countries  present.  It 
seemed  probable  that  the  Hague  Court,  thus  created, 
would  die  of  neglect,  but  President  Roosevelt,  ap 
pealed  to  by  an  advocate  of  peace,  produced  a  tri 
fling  case  and  submitted  it  to  arbitration.  The  Pious 
Fund  dispute,  with  Mexico  and  the  United  States  as 
suitors,  involved  the  control  of  church  funds  in  Cali 
fornia.  The  suit  was  won  by  the  United  States,  but 
derived  its"  chief  importance  from  being  the  first 
Hague  settlement. 

The  pledge  of  the  United  States  for  Cuban  inde- 


284  THE  NEW  NATION 

pendence  had  hardly  been  fulfilled  when  another 
Latin  Republic  became  involved  in  trouble.  Vene 
zuela,  torn  by  war,  had  incurred  obligations  to  Euro 
pean  creditors,  and  had  defaulted  in  the  payments 
upon  them.  In  December,  1902,  Great  Britain  and 
Germany  announced  a  blockade  of  the  Venezuelan 
ports  in  retaliation,  and  they  were  soon  joined  by 
other  Powers  with  similar  claims.  Disclaiming  intent 
to  protect  Venezuela  in  defaulting,  Roosevelt  urged 
the  European  claimants  to  abandon  force  for  arbitra 
tion.  Under  his  leadership  joint  commissions  were 
finally  established,  and  in  1903  the  legal  technicali 
ties  involved  were  sent  to  The  Hague.  The  episode  in 
volved  a  new  interpretation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
making  it  clear  that  unless  the  United  States  wished 
to  protect  the  South  American  Republics  in  the  eva 
sion  of  their  debts  it  must  assume  some  responsibility 
for  the  honest  settlement  of  them. 

The  boundary  of  Alaska  next  became  a  subject  for 
arbitration.  Since  the  valley  of  the  Yukon  had  at 
tracted  its  first  great  migration  in  the  summer  of 
1897  the  mining-camps  had  steadily  increased  in  im 
portance.  Many  of  these  were  on  the  Canadian  side 
of  the  meridian  of  141°,  and  all  were  reached  either 
by  the  river  steamers  or  the  trails  from  the  south. 
The  most  important  ports  of  entry  were  Dyea  and 
Skaguay,  at  the  head  of  the  Lynn  Canal,  a  long  fiord 
projecting  some  ninety  miles  into  the  continent.  From 
these  ports  the  prospector  plunged  inland,  climbed 
the  Chilkoot  or  the  Chilkat  Pass,  and  followed  one 
of  several  overland  trails  to  the  Upper  Yukon. 

The  importance  given  to  Dyea  and  Skaguay  re- 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  285 

vived  the  question  of  their  ownership  and  with  this 
the  boundary  of  Alaska.  When  Seward  bought 
Alaska  for  the  United  States  in  1867  he  received  it 
with  the  boundaries  agreed  upon  at  St.  Petersburg 
between  England  and  Russia  in  1825.  These  fol 
lowed  the  meridian  of  141°  from  Mount  St.  Elias  to 
the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  followed  the  irregularities  of 
the  shore-line  southeast  from  that  mountain  to  the 
Pacific  at  54°  40',  North  Latitude.  The  narrow  coast 
strip  was  described  as  following  the  windings  (sinu- 
osites)  of  the  shore,  bounded  by  the  shore  mountains 
if  possible,  but  in  no  case  to  be  more  than  thirty  miles 
wide.  The  narrow  Lynn  Canal  pierces  the  thirty- 
mile  strip,  and  the  dispute  turned  chiefly  upon  inter 
pretation  :  whether  the  canal  should  be  regarded  as  a 
sinuosite  of  the  shore,  around  which  the  boundary 
must  go,  or  as  a  stream  which  it  might  properly 
cross. 

For  thirty  years  after  1867  the  British  and  Cana 
dian  government  maps  treated  the  Lynn  Canal  and 
other  similar  fiords  as  American,  but  it  became  con 
venient  for  Canada,  after  1897,  to  urge  that  the  boun 
dary  should  cross  the  canal  and  leave  Dyea  and 
Skaguay  on  British  soil.  A  Canadian  and  American 
Joint  High  Commission,  meeting  in  1898,  had  been 
unable  to  adjust  the  controversy.  In  1903  it  was 
submitted  to  a  tribunal,  three  to  a  side,  which  sat  in 
London.  It  was  doubtful  whether  the  three  Ameri 
can  adjudicators,  Root,  Lodge,  and  Turner,  were  all 
"  jurists  of  repute,"  as  the  treaty  provided,  but  the 
arguments  of  the  American  counsel  convinced  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Alverstone,  one  of  the  British  adjudi- 


286  THE  NEW  NATION 

cators,  and  his  vote,  added  to  the  American  three, 
gave  a  verdict  that  sustained  most  of  the  claims  of 
the  United  States. 

In  Cuba  and  Venezuela,  at  The  Hague,  and  in  the 
Alaskan  matter,  Roosevelt  and  Hay  showed  at  once 
a  firmness  and  a  reasonableness  that  attracted  Euro 
pean  attention  to  American  diplomacy  as  never  be 
fore.  The  subject  of  American  diplomacy  became  a 
common  study  in  American  universities.  England 
and  Germany  appeared  to  be  desirous  of  conciliating 
the  United  States.  The  German  Emperor  bought  a 
steam  yacht  in  the  United  States,  sent  his  brother, 
Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  to  attend  the  launching,  and 
sent  as  Ambassador  a  German  nobleman  who  had 
long  been  a  personal  friend  of  the  President.  The 
reputation  for  firmness  was  enhanced,  but  that  for 
fairness  was  lessened  by  the  next  episode,  which  in 
volved  the  Colombian  State  of  Panama. 

The  dangerous  voyage  of  the  Oregon  in  1898 
completed  the  conviction  of  the  United  States  that 
an  isthmian  canal  must  be  constructed,  and  that  the 
Clayton-Bui wer  Treaty  was  no  longer  adequate.  The 
activity  of  De  Lesseps  and  his  French  company  at 
Panama  had  raised  the  question  about  1880,  but 
nothing  had  been  done  to  weaken  the  treaty  that 
obstructed  American  construction  and  control  until 
Hay  undertook  a  negotiation  under  the  direction  of 
McKinley  in  the  fall  of  1899.  Congress  was  in  the 
midst  of  a  debate  over  a  Nicaragua  canal  scheme 
when  it  was  announced  that  on  February  5,  1900, 
Hay  and  Lord  Pauncefote  had  signed  a  treaty  open 
ing  the  canal  to  American  construction,  but  provid- 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  287 

ing  for  its  neutralization.  The  treaty  forbade  the 
fortification  of  the  canal  or  its  use  as  an  instrument 
of  war.  It  was  killed  by  amendment  in  the  Senate, 
but  on  November  18, 1901,  Lord  Pauncefote  signed 
a  second  treaty,  by  which  Great  Britain  waived  all 
her  old  rights  save  that  of  equal  treatment  for  all 
users  of  the  canal,  and  left  the  future  waterway  to 
the  discretion  of  the  United  States.  With  the  way 
thus  opened,  —  for  the  Senate  promptly  confirmed 
this  treaty,  —  a  new  study  of  routes  and  methods 
was  hurried  to  completion. 

An  Isthmian  Commission,  created  by  the  United 
States  in  1899,  was  ready  to  report  upon  a  route 
when  the  second  Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty  was  con 
cluded.  The  practicable  routes  had  been  reduced  in 
number  to  two,  at  Panama,  and  through  Nicaragua. 
The  former  was  under  the  control  of  the  French 
company,  which  placed  so  high  a  price  upon  its  con 
cession  that  the  commission  recommended  the  Nicar 
agua  route  as,  on  the  whole,  more  available.  In  Con 
gress  there  was  a  strong  predisposition  in  favor  of 
this  same  route,  but  during  1902  this  was  weakened. 
Senator  Hanna  preferred  the  Panama  route  and 
worked  effectively  for  it.  The  French  Panama  Com 
pany,  frightened  by  the  popularity  of  the  Nicaragua 
route,  reduced  its  price.  The  earthquake  and  vol 
canic  eruption  on  the  Island  of  Martinique  reminded 
the  world  that  Nicaragua  was  nearer  the  zone  of 
active  volcanic  life,  and  hence  more  exposed  to  dan 
ger,  than  Panama.  In  June  Congress  empowered 
the  President  to  select  the  route  and  build  a  canal 
at  once. 


288  THE  NEW  NATION 

Negotiations  with  Colombia  for  the  right  to  build 
at  Panama  dragged  on  through  1902  and  1903. 
Weakened  by  continuous  revolution,  that  Republic 
realized  that  the  isthmian  right  of  way  was  its  most 
valuable  asset.  Only  after  prolonged  discussion  did 
its  Government  authorize  its  Minister  at  Washing 
ton  to  sign  a  treaty  reserving  Colombian  sovereignty 
over  the  strip,  but  giving  to  the  United  States  the 
canal  concession  in  return  for  810,000,000  in  cash 
and  an  annuity  of  $250,000.  This  treaty  was  signed 
in  Washington  in  January,  1903,  and  was  received 
as  a  triumph  for  the  diplomacy  of  Hay  and  Roose 
velt.  It  was  ratified  in  March  by  the  Senate,  in  spite 
of  a  last  filibuster  by  the  friends  of  Nicaragua,  but 
the  Colombian  Congress  rejected  the  treaty  and  ad 
journed. 

By  the  autumn  of  1903  Roosevelt  had  determined 
upon  the  route  at  Panama,  the  French  company  had 
become  eager  to  sell,  and  the  Colombians  living  on 
the  Isthmus  were  anxious  to  have  the  negotiations 
ended  and  the  digging  begun.  In  October  the  Pres 
ident  wrote  to  an  intimate  friend  hoping  that  there 
might  be  a  revolt  of  the  Isthmus  against  Colombia, 
though  disclaiming  any  intent  to  provoke  one.  The 
friend  made  the  wish  public  over  his  own  name,  but 
before  it  appeared  in  print  the  revolt  had  taken 
place.  It  was  known  in  advance  to  the  State  Depart 
ment,  which  telegraphed  on  November  3, 1903,  ask 
ing  when  it  was  to  be  precipitated.  It  took  place 
later  on  this  day,  the  independence  of  the  Republic 
of  Panama  was  proclaimed,  the  United  States  pre 
vented  Colombia  from  repressing  it  by  force,  recog- 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  289 

nized  the  new  Republic  by  cable,  and  on  November 
18  signed  at  Washington  a  treaty  with  Panama 
granting  the  canal  concession.  "  I  took  Panama," 
boasted  President  Roosevelt  some  years  later,  when 
critics  denounced  his  policy  as  a  robbery  of  a  weak 
neighbor. 

The  construction  of  a  canal  proceeded  rapidly, 
once  the  diplomatic  entanglements  had  been  brushed 
away.  The  incidental  problems  of  sanitation,  labor, 
supplies,  and  engineering  were  solved  promptly  and 
effectively.  Congress  poured  money  into  the  enter 
prise  without  restraint,  the  first  boats  were  passed 
through  the  locks  in  1914,  and  in  1915  the  formal 
opening  of  the  canal  was  celebrated  by  a  naval  pro 
cession  at  the  Isthmus  and  an  Exposition  at  San 
Francisco. 

Vigor  and  certainty  of  purpose  marked  the  con 
duct  of  domestic  affairs  as  well  as  foreign,  but  the 
necessity  for  the  concurrence  in  these  by  Congress 
made  the  former  results  less  striking  than  the  latter. 
The  appointments  of  President  Roosevelt  were  such 
as  might  be  expected  from  one  who  had  himself  de 
voted  six  years  to  the  Civil  Service  Commission. 
Few  of  them  met  with  opposition  from  the  reform 
element.  In  the  South  he  became  involved  with  local 
public  opinion,  especially  in  the  cases  of  a  negro 
postmistress  at  Indianola,  Mississippi,  and  the  negro 
collector  of  the  port  of  Charleston,  in  which  he  main 
tained  that  although  federal  appointments  ought 
generally  to  go  to  persons  acceptable  in  their  dis 
tricts,  the  door  of  opportunity  must  not  be  shut 
against  the  negro.  Within  a  few  weeks  of  his  in- 


290  THE  NEW  NATION 

auguration  he  precipitated  a  severe  discussion  upon 
the  status  of  the  negro  by  entertaining  Booker  T. 
Washington  at  the  White  House.  He  disciplined 
Republican  leaders  in  the  South  who  endeavored  to 
exclude  negroes  from  the  party  organization  and  to 
build  up  a  "  lily-white  "  Republican  machine. 

The  administrative  duties  of  the  United  States 
expanded  rapidly  after  the  Spanish  War.  The  ex 
tension  of  scientific  functions  beginning  in  the  eighties 
continued  until  the  volume  of  work  forced  the  crea 
tion  of  new  offices.  Federal  civil  employees  numbered 
107,000  in  1880, 166,000  in  1890, 256,000  in  1900, 
and  384,000  in  1910.  Among  the  newer  scientific 
activities  was  included  that  of  the  reclamation  of 
the  arid  or  semi-arid  lands  of  the  Southwest. 

The  region  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the 
Sierra  Nevada  had  been  regarded  as  uninhabitable 
since  the  days  of  Pike.  Known  as  the  "  American 
Desert,"  it  figured  in  the  atlases  as  a  place  of  sand 
and  aridity,  and  became  the  home  chosen  for  the  In 
dian  tribes  between  1825  and  1840.  Under  the  in 
fluence  of  migration  to  Oregon  and  California  the 
real  character  of  the  Far  West  became  known,  but 
not  until  the  continental  railways  were  finished  did 
many  inhabitants  enter  it.  In  1889  and  1890  the 
"  Omnibus  "  States  were  admitted,  embracing  all  the 
northwest  half  of  the  old  desert.  Utah  followed  in 
1896.  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  and  Oklahoma  de 
veloped  rapidly  after  1890  and  were  all  demanding 
statehood  in  1902. 

The  advance  of  population  into  the  Far  Wrest 
revealed  the  existence  of  large  areas  in  which  an 


THEODORE   ROOSEVELT  291 

abundant  agriculture  could  be  produced  through  ir 
rigation.  Private  means  were  inadequate  for  this 
and  the  land  laws  discouraged  it.  A  demand  for 
federal  reclamation  appeared  in  the  eighties.  In 
1889  a  survey  of  available  sites  for  reservoirs  was 
made  by  government  engineers,  and  in  1902  Roose 
velt  cooperated  with  the  Far- Western  Congressmen 
in  securing  the  passage  of  the  Newlands  Reclama 
tion  Act.  By  this  bill  the  proceeds  of  land  sales  in 
the  arid  States  became  a  fund  to  be  used  by  the  re 
clamation  service  for  the  construction  of  great  pub 
lic  irrigation  works.  In  the  succeeding  years  dams, 
tunnels,  and  ditches  were  undertaken  that  were 
rivaled  in  magnitude  only  by  the  railroad  tunnels 
at  New  York  and  the  excavations  at  Panama. 

The  aggressive  assurance  with  which  the  Roose 
velt  Administration  handled  the  problems  of  diplo 
macy  and  administration  created  for  the  President 
a  wide  and  unusual  popularity,  which  was  strongest 
in  the  West.  Many  critics,  also,  were  created,  who 
distrusted  personal  influence  when  injected  into 
government,  and  who  doubted  the  solidity  of  Roose 
velt's  judgment.  Personal  altercations,  in  which  the 
President  was  often  the  aggressor,  were  numerous. 
Among  professional  politicians  dislike  was  mingled 
with  fear  because  the  President  had  established  per 
sonal  relations  immediately  with  their  constituents. 
Under  President  McKinley  the  state  delegations  in 
Congress  had  controlled  the  appointive  federal  offices 
of  their  States,  and  had  been  secure  in  their  personal 
standing ;  under  Roosevelt  their  control  of  appoint 
ments  was  less  secure.  When  matters  of  legislation 


THE  NEW  NATION 

were  taken  up,  this  dissatisfaction  among  members 
of  Congress  was  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  attainment 
of  constructive  laws. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

After  the  Spanish  War  the  secondary  materials  for  the  his 
tory  of  the  United  States  become  fragmentary  and  unsatisfac 
tory.  Peck,  Andrews,  and  J.  H.  Latand,  America  as  a  World 
Power,  1897-1907  (in  The  American  Nation,  vol.  25,  1907), 
are  the  best  general  guides.  The  facts  of  campaigns  are  con 
tained  in  E.  Stanwood's  second  volume,  —  History  of  the  Pres 
idency  from  1897  to  1909  (1912,  with  an  appendix  containing 
the  platforms  of  1912),  but  the  Annual  Cyclopsedia  stopped 
publication  after  1902,  and  left  no  good  successor.  The  vari 
ous  year-books  should  be  consulted,  and  the  files  of  the  maga 
zines,  which  steadily  improve  in  historical  value  :  Nation, 
Harper's  Weekly,  Collier's  Weekly,  Independent,  Outlook,  Liter 
ary  Digest,  and  the  Review  of  Reviews.  Articles  in  these  and 
other  periodicals,  dealing  with  episodes  occurring  after  1898, 
may  be  reached  through  Poole's  Indexes.  The  American  Jour* 
nal  of  International  Law  and  the  American  Political  Science 
Review  are  typical  of  the  new  technical  periodicals.  Extensive 
contributions  to  the  history  of  international  arbitration  have 
been  made  by  F.  W.  Holls,  J.  B.  Scott,  and  W.  I.  Hull.  There 
is,  of  course,  no  critical  biography  of  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
although  there  are  numerous  panegyrics  by  F.  E.  Leupp,  J.  A. 
Riis,  J.  Morgan,  and  others,  and  some  autobiographical  papers 
which  appeared  first  in  the  Outlook  (1913),  and  later  as  Fifty 
Years  of  My  Life  (1913).  The  later  Messages  of  McKinley 
and  those  of  his  successors  are  scattered  among  the  govern 
ment  documents,  which  are  to  be  found  in  many  libraries. 
The  Second  Battle  (1900),  by  W.  J.  Bryan,  is  autobiographic, 
as  is  A.  E.  Stevenson,  Something  of  Men  I  Have  Known  (1909). 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

BIG    BUSINESS 

THE  panic  of  1893  ended  the  first  period  of  the 
trust  problem.  The  preceding  years  had  been  years 
of  formation  and  experiment.  They  had  been  accom 
panied  by  an  increasing  popular  distaste  for  com 
binations  of  capital  and  a  growing  activity  in  the 
organization  of  labor.  The  Sherman  Law  of  1890 
had  temporarily  quieted  the  anti-trust  movement, 
while  economic  depression  had  checked  the  extra 
vagance  of  speculation  that  had  been  prevalent 
everywhere.  During  the  years  of  depression  atten 
tion  was  shifted  to  tariff  and  currency,  but  a  new 
era  began  with  the  recurrence  of  prosperity  about 
1897. 

The  industrial  revival  was  marked  by  an  exten 
sion  of  the  scope  of  industry,  as  every  similar  pe 
riod  had  been.  After  the  panic  of  1837  the  railroad 
had  appeared  among  the  important  new  activities  of 
American  society.  Improvements  in  manufacturing 
technique  followed  the  panic  of  1857.  After  1873  the 
varied  applications  of  electricity  to  industry  and  com 
munication  gave  a  new  direction  to  investment.  After 
1893,  with  every  preceding  activity  stimulated  and 
extended,  there  came  the  first  successful  construction 
of  a  trackless  engine  —  the  motor-car  —  and  the  re 
building  of  the  physical  plants  of  cities,  railways,  and 


294  THE  NEW  NATION 

suburban  residences.  The  recovery  of  confidence  came 
after  1896,  and  before  the  end  of  the  century  specu 
lation  was  at  full  blast. 

)\  The  drift  toward  monopoly  was  marked.  The  trusts 
had  already  shown  their  profitable  character.  Con 
centration  had  been  made  possible  by  the  develop 
ment  of  communication  in  the  eighties,  and  grew  now 
on  a  larger  scale  than  the  eighties  had  imagined. 
Within  the  field  of  transportation  the  promoters 
reorganized  the  railroads  after  the  panic,  reduced 
their  number,  and  gathered  their  control  into  the 
hands  of  a  few  men. 

The  railway  system  by  1900,  with  198,000  miles 
of  track,  was  directed  by  a  few  powerful  groups 
of  roads.  In  the  East  the  New  York  Central 
and  Pennsylvania  systems  were  dominant.  In  the 
West  the  continental  railways  formed  the  basis  of 
new  organizations.  The  keenest  interest  gathered 
round  the  reconstruction  of  the  Union  Pacific  by 
Edward  H.  Harriman,  who  reorganized  its  finances 
after  1897.  The  Union  Pacific  had  been  forced  into 
combination  by  its  location  and  its  neighbors.  Run 
ning  from  Omaha  to  Ogden  it  was  dependent  for 
through  traffic  upon  the  Central  Pacific  that  ran 
from  Ogden  to  San  Francisco.  Wrhen  the  latter  came 
under  the  control  of  the  California  capitalists  who 
owned  the  Southern  Pacific  lines,  the  Union  Pacific 
was  driven  to  build  or  buy  outlets  of  its  own,  and 
extended  into  Oregon  and  Texas  as  the  result.  Jay 
Gould  had  begun  the  consolidation  in  the  eighties 
and  Harriman  continued  it  after  the  panic  of  1893. 
He  rebuilt  the  main  line  and  improved  the  value  and 


BIG  BUSINESS  295 

credit  of  his  property.  In  1901  his  road  borrowed 
money  with  which  to  buy  a  controlling  interest  in  the 
Central  Pacific  and  Southern  Pacific — the  Hunt- 
ington  lines, — and  thereafter  the  Harriman  system, 
with  two  complete  railroads  from  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Pacific,  was  beyond  the  reach  of  hostile  competi 
tion. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Law  of  1887  stimulated  \ 
combination  among  the  railroads,  since  it  made  pools 
and  rate  agreements  illegal.  The  alternative  to  such 
agreements  was  destructive  competition,  since  no  two 
lines  were  of  exactly  equal  strength.  To  avoid  this, 
the  stronger  lines  bought  or  leased  the  weaker,  with 
which  they  might  not  cooperate,  but  which  they  might 
buy  outright.  Harriman,  successful  with  his  South 
western  system,  tried  in  1901  to  buy  the  Northern 
Pacific,  too,  and  came  into  direct  conflict  with  another 
group  of  railway  owners. 

The  Northern  Pacific  had  been  supplemented  after 
1893  by  the  Great  Northern,  which  James  J.  Hill 
had  built  without  a  subsidy.  These  two  roads,  and 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy,  covered  the 
Northwest  as  Harriman's  lines  covered  the  South 
west.  They  were  so  placed  that  with  common  man 
agement  they  could  be  more  effective  than  with 
rivalry.  The  owners  of  the  Great  Northern  and  the 
Burlington,  James  J.  Hill  and  J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
were  on  the  verge  of  a  general  consolidation  when 
Harriman  tried  co  buy  a  control  of  the  Northern 
Pacific.  They  struggled  to  retain  it  and  succeeded, 
but  their  competition  raised  its  stock  to  one  thou 
sand  per  share,  causing  a  stock  exchange  panic  on 


296  THE  NEW  NATION 

May  9,  1901.  Only  the  speculators  suffered  by  the 
panic,  but  public  attention  was  drawn  by  it  to  the 
gigantic  size  of  the  combinations  which  held  arbi 
trary  control  over  nearly  half  the  United  States. 

Minor  consolidations  followed  these  in  1902  and 
1903,  but  none  aroused  so  much  fear  as  the  Northern 
Securities  Company  of  New  Jersey,  the  holding  com 
pany  in  whose  hands  Hill  and  Morgan  determined 
to  put  the  control  of  their  lines.  The  fate  of  any 
single  company  could  be  determined  by  the  owner 
ship  of  not  over  fifty-one  per  cent  of  its  stock.  If 
this  was  owned  by  another  corporation,  a  similar 
proportion  of  the  stock  of  the  latter  would  control 
the  whole.  The  holding  company  was  a  machine 
whereby  capital  could  control  property  several  times 
its  bulk.  The  Governors  of  the  Northwest  States, 
alarmed  at  the  monopolization  of  their  railways,  pro 
tested  and  started  suits.  It  was  claimed  that  this  sort 
of  merging  of  railroads  was,  after  all,  a  conspiracy 
in  restraint  of  trade.  In  March,  1902,  President 
Roosevelt  instructed  his  Attorney-General,  Philan 
der  C.  Knox,  to  test  the  Sherman  Act  of  1890,  and 
bring  suit  under  it  for  the  dissolution  of  the  North 
ern  Securities  Company.  For  several  years  after 
1897  foreign  affairs  and  big  business  had  been  dom 
inant  in  the  American  mind,  which  had  admired  their 
bigness  and  activity,  but  now  the  social  consequences 
of  big  business  aroused  the  fears  of  the  nation.  In 
1903  Congress  passed  the  Elkins  Law,  forbidding 
railroads  to  give  rebates  to  favored  customers,  and 
an  Expedition  Law,  to  make  the  wheels  of  justice 
move  more  rapidly  when  prosecutions  under  the 


BIG   BUSINESS  297 

Sherman  and  Interstate  Commerce  Laws  were  under 
way. 

Industrial  consolidation,  like  that  of  the  railways,  X 
began  again  in  1897,  and  many  of  the  new  corpora 
tions  assumed  a  type  that  marked  an  evolution  for 
the  trust.  In  the  earlier  period  the  aim  of  the  trust 
had  been  to  eliminate  competition  by  gathering  under 
a  single  control  the  whole  of  a  given  business.  Oil, 
sugar,  steel,  whiskey,  and  tobacco  were  notable  in 
stances  in  which  extreme  consolidation  had  been 
reached.  Competition  changed  its  character  as  con 
solidation  increased.  It  ceased  to  mean  a  struggle 
between  rivals  in  the  same  trade,  and  came  to  mean  a 
struggle  between  successive  processes  of  manufacture. 
The  mine-owner  struggled  for  his  profits  with  the 
smelter  who  used  his  ore.  The  smelter  struggled  with 
the  steel  manufacturer  in  the  same  way.  Control  of 
single  industries  left  untouched  this  newer  competi 
tion,  but  an  integration  of  great  groups  of  related 
processes  promised  to  avoid  it. 

In  1901  the  greatest  of  the  integrated  trusts,  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation,  was  created.  The 
iron  and  steel  industry  had  been  expanding  since 
the  Bessemer  and  other  commercial  processes  for  the 
manufacture  of  steel  had  made  it  available  for  rail 
way,  bridge,  and  architectural  construction.  Andrew 
Carnegie,  with  his  Pittsburg  mills,  was  the  most  suc 
cessful  producer.  His  partnership  controlled  by  1901 
about  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  output  of  finished 
steel.  He  already  included  many  related  and  succes 
sive  processes,  but  now  he  allowed  his  works  to  be 
merged  with  those  of  his  rivals  into  a  large  com- 


298  THE  NEW  NATION 

pany.  The  resulting  United  States  Steel  Corporation 
owned  and  operated  the  ore  deposits  and  the  mines, 
the  necessary  coal  fields,  the  local  railways  and  freight 
steamers,  the  smelters  and  the  blast  furnaces,  the 
rolling  mills  and  the  factories  in  which  iron  and  steel 
were  manufactured  into  a  multitude  of  shapes  for 
sale.  With  a  New  Jersey  charter  it  was  capital 
ized  at  11,100,000,000,  and  drew  attention  to  the 
industrial  phase  of  the  trust  problem  much  as  Har- 
riman,  Hill,  and  Morgan  had  drawn  it  to  the  rail 
roads. 

Promotion  of  new  trusts,  with  billions  of  aggre 
gated  capital,  was  the  order  of  the  day  from  1897  to 
1902.  The  fear  of  monopoly  was  speedily  aroused, 
and  in  1898  Congress  created  an  Industrial  Com 
mission,  whose  nineteen  volumes  of  reports  contain 
the  facts  upon  which  the  history  of  the  trusts  must 
be  based.  In  the  fall  of  1899  there  met  in  Chicago  a 
great  conference  on  the  trusts,  where  business  men, 
economists,  and  politicians  discussed  the  economic 
and  social  possibilities  of  the  movement.  A  willing 
ness  to  hear  and  perhaps  to  rely  on  the  judgment 
of  experts  was  shown  in  the  discussions  over  the 
trusts.  It  marked  a  change  in  the  American  attitude 
toward  government.  By  1902  the  demand  for  a  solu 
tion  of  the  trust  problem  was  heard  repeatedly,  but 
there  was  little  agreement  as  to  whether  the  trusts 
were  good  or  bad,  or  whether  they  should  be  abol 
ished,  regulated,  or  owned  outright  by  the  Govern 
ment.  It  was  not  even  certain  what  powers  the  United 
States  possessed  to  regulate  general  industry,  but  a 
group  of  Supreme  Court  cases  suggested  that  the 


BIG  BUSINESS  299 

power  could  be  found.  In  the  Trans-Missouri  Freight 
Case  (1897),  the  Supreme  Court  declared  that  the 
Sherman  Law  applied  to  railway  conspiracies,  and 
in  the  Addystone  Pipe  Case  (1898),  a  decision 
against  an  industrial  combination,  written  by  Circuit 
Judge  William  H.  Taft,  was  upheld  by  the  court  of 
last  appeal.  The  Northern  Securities  Case,  started 
in  1902,  was  pushed  to  a  successful  end  in  1904, 
when  it  became  apparent  that  legal  control  could  be 
exercised  if  Congress  so  desired. 

Labor  followed  the  course  of  industry  and  trans 
portation,  becoming  stronger  and  better  united,  and 
showing  a  keen  jealousy  of  centralized  control.  The 
years  of  trust  promotion  were  years  of  notable  strikes 
and  of  episodes  which  drew  attention  to  the  social 
results  of  industrial  concentration.  Sometimes  the 
trust  had  labor  at  a  disadvantage,  as  was  shown  in 
the  strike  against  the  Steel  Corporation  by  the  Amal 
gamated  Association  in  1901.  In  1892  this  union  had 
conducted  a  great  strike  against  the  Carnegie  Works 
and  had  lost  public  sympathy  and  the  strike.  Its  men 
had  committed  open  violence,  and  an  anarchistic  sym 
pathizer  had  tried  to  murder  Carnegie's  representative 
at  Homestead,  Henry  C.  Frick.  In  1901  the  strike 
affected  the  unionized  mills  of  the  Steel  Corporation, 
but  that  trust  had  only  to  close  down  the  mills  in 
volved  and  transfer  pending  contracts  to  other  mills, 
remote  and  non-unionized.  The  strike  collapsed  be 
cause  of  the  superior  organization  of  the  trust. 

More  important  than  the  steel  strike  in  its  effect 
upon  the  public  was  the  strike  of  the  miners  in  the 
anthracite  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  In  1900  these 


300  THE  NEW  NATION 

workers  were  organized  by  the  United  Mine  Workers 
of  America,  under  the  leadership  of  John  Mitchell. 
They  gained  concessions  in  a  strike  in  this  year, 
partly  because  the  strike  threatened  to  disturb  politi 
cal  conditions  and  embarrass  the  Republican  national 
ticket.  The  mine-owners,  most  of  whom  were  Repub 
licans,  were  persuaded  by  Hanna  and  others  to  end  the 
quarrel. 

In  the  spring  of  1902  the  strike  broke  out  again, 
turning  largely  upon  the  question  of  the  formal  recog 
nition  of  the  union.  All  through  the  summer  John 
Mitchell  held  his  followers  together,  gaining  an  un 
usual  degree  of  public  sympathy  for  his  cause.  In 
the  autumn,  with  both  sides  obstinate,  a  third  party, 
the  public,  took  an  interest  in  the  strike.  The  pros 
pect  of  a  coalless  winter  alarmed  political  leaders  and 
Citizens  in  general.  It  was  felt  that  public  interest  was 
Superior  to  the  claims  of  either  contestant,  but  there 
was  neither  law  nor  recognized  machinery  through 
which  the  public  could  protect  itself.  At  this  stage, 
in  October,  1902,  President  Roosevelt  secretly 
reached  the  intention  "  to  send  in  the  United  States 
Army  to  take  possession  of  the  coal  fields"  if  neces 
sary.  He  called  the  operators  and  Mitchell  to  a 
conference  at  the  White  House,  spoke  to  them 
as  a  citizen  upon  their  duty  to  serve  the  public, 
and  with  rising  public  opinion  behind  him  and 
supporting  him,  forced  the  owners  to  consent  to 
an  arbitration  of  the  points  at  issue.  The  men  re 
turned  to  work,  pleased  with  the  President,  to 
whose  interference  they  and  the  public  owed  in 
dustrial  peace. 


BIG  BUSINESS  301 

In  1903  another  miners'  union,  the  Western  Fed 
eration  of  Miners,  conducted  a  great  strike  in  the 
mines  of  Cripple  Creek.  Public  opinion  in  Colorado 
knew  no  middle  class.  The  miners  and  the  operators 
represented  the  two  chief  interests  of  the  section. 
Hard  feeling  and  violence  accompanied  the  strike. 
The  malicious  murder  of  non-union  men  added  to  the 
bitterness,  which  the  presence  of  the  militia  and  a 
series  of  arbitrary  arrests  could  not  allay.  The  strike 
was  complicated  by  the  presence  among  the  workers 
of  a  strong  element  of  Socialists,  whose  ends  were 
political  as  well  as  economic.  The  leaders  of  the  Fed 
eration,  Moyer  and  Haywood,  were  Socialists,  and  for 
them  the  strike  was  only  a  beginning  of  political 
revolution.  The  strike  lasted  until  the  outraged  citi 
zens  of  Cripple  Creek  formed  a  vigilance  committee 
and  deported  the  chief  agitators  to  Kansas. 

Socialism  played  an  increasing  part  in  labor  discus 
sions  after  1897.  A  Socialist  Labor  party  had  pre 
sented  a  ticket  and  received  a  few  votes  in  1892  and 
1896,  but  socialism  had  not  taken  a  strong  hold  on 
the  American  imagination.  The  swelling  immigration 
that  followed  the  new  prosperity  brought  new  life  to 
socialism.  In  1900  a  Social  Democratic  party  polled 
94,000  votes  for  Eugene  Y.  Debs  for  President.  In 
1904,  with  the  same  candidate,  it  received  402,000 
votes.  Society  was  reorganizing  amid  the  industrial 
changes,  while  the  discontented  classes  were  growing 
more  coherent  and  constructive. 

President  Roosevelt  met  the  changes  in  transporta 
tion,  industry,  and  labor  with  vigor.  He  invoked  the 
Sherman  Law  against  the  Northern  Securities  Com- 


302  THE  NEW  NATION 

pany.  He  brought  suits  against  certain  of  the  trusts 
which  he  stigmatized  as  the  "  bad  trusts."  Not  all 
concentration,  he  urged,  was  undesirable.  Capital, 
like  labor,  had  its  rights,  but  it  must  obey  the  law. 
Partly  through  his  efforts  Congress  created  in  1903 
a  new  administrative  department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor.  George  B.  Cortelyou  became  the  first  Secre 
tary  of  this  department.  Through  its  Bureaus  of  Cor 
porations  and  of  Labor  there  was  new  activity  in  the 
investigation  of  the  facts  of  the  industrial  move 
ment. 

The  vigor  with  which  the  President  directed  for 
eign  relations,  interfered  in  big  business,  and  espoused 
the  cause  of  labor  produced  a  breach  between  him 
and  many  of  the  regular  leaders  of  the  party. 
Through  two  campaigns  Marcus  A.  Hanna  had 
worked  on  the  theory  that  the  Re  publican  party  was 
the  party  of  business,  and  had  attracted  to  its  support 
all  who  believed  this  or  had  something  to  make  out 
of  it.  Many  of  these  Republicans  could  not  under 
stand  what  Roosevelt  was  trying  to  do,  and  main 
tained  an  opposition,  silent  or  open,  to  his  policies. 

The  popularity  of  Hanna  was  used  by  many  Re 
publicans  to  offset  the  popularity  of  Roosevelt.  Before 
1896  Hanna  had  taken  little  part  in  public  politics. 
Entering  the  Senate  in  1897,  he  developed  great  in 
fluence.  By  1900  he  began  to  speak  in  public  with 
directness  and  effect,  and  to  undo  the  work  of  the 
cartoonists  who  had  misrepresented  his  character.  He 
interfered  to  bring  peace  in  the  anthracite  regions  in 
1900,  became  interested  in  the  labor  problem  on  its 
own  account,  and  discovered  that  he  was  popular. 


BIG  BUSINESS  303 

He  was  essentially  a  direct  and  honest  man,  who  had 
had  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was  the  chief  end  of  gov 
ernment  to  conserve  business.  As  he  came  into  touch 
with  public  affairs  he  broadened,  saw  new  responsi 
bilities  for  capital,  and  had  a  new  understanding  of 
the  wants  of  labor.  The  only  personality  that  even 
threatened  to  rival  that  of  Eoosevelt  in  1904  was 
that  of  " Uncle  Mark"  Hanna. 

Roosevelt  had  been  made  Vice-President  to  get  rid 
of  him  in  New  York.  The  single  life  that  stood  be 
tween  him  and  the  White  House  was  removed  by  an 
assassin,  and  as  a  President  by  accident  he  desired  to 
establish  himself  and  secure  a  nomination  on  his  own 
account  in  1904.  By  the  summer  of  1902  he  appre 
ciated  the  growing  interest  in  the  problems  of  capi 
tal  and  labor.  A  speaking  tour  in  1902  gave  him  a 
chance  to  demand  a  "  square  deal "  for  all,  and  the 
control  of  the  trusts.  From  some  sections  of  the 
West  came  the  suggestion  that  the  way  to  approach 
the  trusts  was  through  the  tariff. 

The  Dingley  Tariff  was  unpopular  with  the  Repub 
lican  farmers  of  the  Northwest,  and  for  some  years 
they  tolerated  it  in  silence  as  a  test  of  party  loyalty. 
In  1902  a  liberal  faction,  controlled  by  Governor 
Albert  B.  Cummins,  captured  the  Iowa  convention 
and  demanded  a  revision  of  the  more  extreme  sched 
ules.  The  belief  that  the  tariff  was  the  "mother  of 
trusts"  was  spreading,  and  the  Iowa  idea  gained 
wide  acceptance.  In  Congress,  in  the  session  of  1902, 
the  Republican  organization  had  shown  the  stubborn 
ness  with  which  any  opening  in  the  tariff  wall  would 
be  opposed. 


304  THE  NEW  NATION 

Cuba  was  set  free  in  the  spring  of  1902,  her  gov 
ernment  having  been  formed  under  the  guidance  of 
the  United  States.  The  duty  to  aid  the  young  Re- 
public,  and  in  particular  to  mitigate  the  severities  of 
the  Dingley  Tariff  impressed  the  President,  who  used 
all  his  influence  to  get  such  legislation  from  Con 
gress.  He  failed  signally,  raising  only  a  new  issue 
by  his  attempt  to  coerce  Congress.  His  speeches  in 
the  summer  showed  a  willingness  to  revise  the  tariff, 
while  his  interference  in  the  coal  strike  in  the  autumn 
showed  his  willingness  to  oppose  the  ends  of  capital. 
How  far  he  would  go  in  breaking  with  the  leaders  of 
his  party  was  unknown,  but  their  disposition  to  u  stand 
pat "  and  do  nothing  with  the  tariff  was  marked  be 
fore  the  end  of  1902. 

In  1902  it  became  a  habit  of  Republican  state 
conventions  to  demand  the  renomination  of  Roose 
velt  in  1904.  Whatever  his  effect  upon  the  party 
leaders,  the  rank  and  file  liked  him  and  believed  in 
him,  while  his  personal  popularity  among  Democrats 
led  many  to  think  his  strength  greater  than  it  was. 
His  candidacy  was  formal  and  authorized,  but  his 
opponents  hoped  that  Hanna  might  be  induced  to  try 
to  defeat  him.  In  1903  the  Ohio  convention,  with  the 
consent  of  Hanna,  approved  the  candidacy  of  Roose 
velt,  and  early  in  1904  the  death  of  Hanna  removed 
the  last  hope  of  Roosevelt's  Republican  opponents. 
The  delegates  went  to  a  national  convention  in 
Chicago,  for  which  the  procedure  had  all  been  ar 
ranged  at  the  White  House,  where  it  had  been  de 
termined  that  Elihu  Root  should  be  temporary  chair 
man,  and  that  Joseph  G.  Cannon,  the  Speaker,  should 


BIG  BUSINESS  305 

be  permanent  chairman.  Through  these  the  conven 
tion  registered  the  renomination  of  Roosevelt  and 
selected  Charles  W.  Fairbanks,  of  Indiana,  as  Vice- 
President. 

In  the  Democratic  party  the  forces  that  had  dom 
inated  in  1896  and  1900  had  lost  control.  William 
Jennings  Bryan,  after  two  defeats,  was  not  a  candi 
date  in  1904.  He  had  become  a  lay  preacher  on 
political  subjects,  lecturing  and  speaking  constantly 
in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  reinforcing  his 
political  views  in  the  columnsof  his  weekly  Commoner, 
which  he  founded  after  his  defeat  in  1900.  Roose 
velt  had  adopted  many  of  his  fundamental  themes, 
but  Bryan  retained  an  increasing  popularity  as  did 
the  President,  and,  like  the  latter,  had  relations  of 
doubtful  cordiality  with  the  leaders  of  his  own  party. 
The  Cleveland  wing  of  the  Democrats  still  believed 
Bryan  to  be  dangerous  and  unsound  upon  financial 
matters,  and  some  of  them  made  overtures  to  Cleve 
land  to  be  a  candidate  for  a  third  term  himself.  His 
emphatic  refusal  to  reenter  politics  compelled  the 
conservatives  to  find  a  new  candidate.  Judge  Alton 
B.  Parker,  of  New  York,  was  their  choice.  The 
owner  of  the  most  notorious  of  the  sensational  news 
papers,  William  Randolph  Hearst,  offered  himself. 
Several  other  candidates  were  presented  to  the  Demo 
cratic  Convention  at  Chicago,  but  Parker  received 
the  nomination,  over  the  bitter  opposition  of  Bryan. 
When  a  doubt  arose  as  to  his  status  on  the  silver  issue, 
Judge  Parker  telegraphed  to  the  convention  that  he 
regarded  "  the  gold  standard  as  firmly  and  irrevoc 
ably  established."  Bryan  supported  the  ticket,  Parker 


306  THE  NEW  NATION 

and  Henry  G.  Davis  of  West  Virginia,  but  without 
enthusiasm. 

There  was  no  issue  that  clearly  divided  the  parties 
in  the  campaign  of  1904.  Roosevelt  asked  for  an  in 
dorsement  of  his  Administration  and  for  approval 
of  his  general  theory  of  a  "  square  deal,"  but  it  was 
obvious  that  his  party  associates  were  less  enthusi 
astic  for  reform  than  he,  and  that  only  his  great 
personal  popularity  prevented  some  of  them  from 
withdrawing  their  support.  The  Bryan  Democrats 
were  drawn  more  toward  Roosevelt  than  toward  their 
own  party  candidate.  It  was  clear  that  Parker  repre 
sented,  on  the  whole,  the  weight  of  conservatism, 
while  Roosevelt  embodied  the  spirit  of  progress,  and 
that  neither  was  typical  of  his  party.  Parker  was 
driven  by  the  progressive  Democrats  to  insist  upon 
a  regulation  of  the  trusts ;  Roosevelt  acquiesced  in 
the  desire  of  the  "  stand-pat "  Republicans  and  re 
frained  from  advocating  a  lowering  of  the  tariff. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  proof  of  the  public 
confidence  in  Roosevelt.  He  carried  every  State  out 
side  the  South,  and  Missouri  and  Maryland  besides. 
His  popular  vote  was  over  7,500,000,  while  his 
plurality  over  Parker  was  more  than  2,500,000.  In 
the  last  week  of  the  canvass  Parker  charged  that  the 
trusts  were  supporting  Roosevelt,  and  that  the  reform 
demands  were  only  a  pose.  He  pointed  out  that  the 
Chairman  of  the  Republican  National  Committee, 
who  had  succeeded  Hanna,  George  B.  Cortelyou, 
had  been  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  and 
thus  in  a  position  to  examine  the  books  of  corpora 
tions.  He  hinted  at  a  political  blackmail  of  the 


BIG   BUSINESS  307 

trusts,  and  many  of  the  papers  that  supported 
him  were  outspoken  in  their  charges.  An  in 
dignant  denial  of  blackmail  appeared  over  the 
President's  signature  the  Saturday  before  election. 
Later  investigation  proved  that  many  of  the  great 
corporations  had,  as  usual,  contributed  to  the  cam 
paign  fund,  and  that  Roosevelt  had  urged  the  rail 
road  magnate,  Harriman,  to  contribute  toward  the 
campaign  in  New  York. 

As  soon  as  the  results  of  the  election  were  known, 
Roosevelt  answered  a  question  that  was  on  the  lips 
of  many.  His  three  and  a  half  years  constituted  his 
first  term.  He  was  now  elected  for  a  second  term,  and 
he  characterized  as  a  "  wise  custom  "  the  limiting  of 
a  President  to  two  terms.  "Under  no  circumstances 
will  I  be  a  candidate  for  or  accept  another  nomina 
tion,"  he  declared. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  history  of  the  recent  trust  movement  may  be  followed 
in  the  writings  upon  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  by 
E.  S.  Meade  and  H.  L.  Wilgus.  There  is  a  detailed  and  gossipy 
Inside  History  of  the  Carnegie  Steel  Company  (1903),  by  J.  H. 
Bridge.  W.  F.  Willoughby  has  made  searching  analyses  of 
Concentration  and  Integration,  which  may  be  found  in  the 
Yale  Review,  vol.  vu,  and  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
vol.  xvi.  The  prosecution  of  the  Northern  Securities  Company 
brought  out  many  typical  facts  of  railroad  consolidation,  and 
is  best  described  in  B.  H.  Meyer,  A  History  of  the  Northern 
Securities  Case  (in  University  of  Wisconsin  Bulletin,  no.  142). 
More  general  material  upon  these  topics  may  be  found  in  E.  R, 
Johnson,  American  Railway  Transportation  (1903,  etc.)  ;  F.  A, 
Cleveland  and  F.  W.  Powell,  Railway  Promotion  and  Capitaliz 
ation  in  the  United  States  (1909,  with  an  admirable  biblio 
graphy);  Poore's  Railroad  Manual;  and  the  files  of  the  Com- 


308  THE  NEW  NATION 

mercial  and  Financial  Chronicle.  The  voluminous  Report  of  the 
Industrial  Commission  (19  vols.,  Washington,  1900-02)  is  a 
storehouse  of  facts  upon  industry;  labor  conditions  are  illustrated 
in  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Labor,  who  has  also  special  reports  upon  individual  strikes, 
including  that  at  Cripple  Creek  in  1903.  The  history  of  the 
campaign  fund  in  1904  was  partially  revealed  in  an  investiga 
tion  in  1912.  H.  Croly,  Marcus  A.  Hanna,  is  invaluable  for 
these  years. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  "MUCK-RAKERS" 

BEFOKE  Roosevelt  was  inaugurated  for  his  second 
term,  the  national  "  revival,"  in  which  he  and  Bryan 
and  other  preachers  of  civic  virtue  had  played  the 
speaking  parts,  was  sweeping  over  the  country.  The 
menace  of  the  trusts  was  seen  and  exaggerated  as 
railways,  corporations,  and  labor  availed  themselves 
of  the  means  of  cooperation.  The  connection  between 
the  great  financial  interests  and  politics  was  believed 
to  be  dangerous  to  public  welfare.  All  the  mechani 
cal  reforms  for  the  recovery  of  government  by  the 
people,  that  had  been  originated  between  1889  and 
1897,  were  revived  once  more,  and  there  was  added 
to  confidence  in  them  a  widespread  belief  in  the  ex 
istence  of  a  malevolent,  plundering  class. 

It  was  not  enough  that  the  trust  movement  should 
be  explained  as  an  unavoidable  development  from 
modern  communication.  It  was  believed  to  consti 
tute  more  than  an  economic  evolution.  The  public 
was  prone  to  place  an  ethical  responsibility  upon  an 
individual  or  groups  of  individuals,  and  there  came 
a  series  of  revelations  or  exposures  that  appeared,  in 
part,  to  fix  the  blame.  All  the  old  uprisings  against 
boss-rule  were  revivified,  and  capitalistic  control  was 
placed  upon  the  Index. 

Miss  Ida  M.  Tarbell,  an  historical  student  who 


310  THE  NEW  NATION 

had  gained  an  audience  through  popular  and  dis 
criminating  lives  of  Napoleon  and  Lincoln,  published 
a  history  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  in  -McClv£e'£_ 
Magazine  during  1903.  She  showed  conclusively 
the  connection  between  transportation  and  monopoly 
in  the  oil  industry,  revealing  the  mastery  of  the  tools 
of  transportation,  by  rebates,  by  control  of  tank  cars, 
or  by  pipe  lines,  that  had  enabled  John  D.  Rocke 
feller  to  establish  his  great  trust.  She  showed  also 
the  unlovely  methods  of  competition,  long  common 
to  all  business,  but  magnified  by  their  use  in  the 
hands  of  a  monopoly  to  establish  itself.  "  What 
we  are  witnessing,"  wrote  Washington  Gladden  a 
little  later,  uis  a  new  apocalypse,  an  uncovering 
of  the  iniquity  of  the  land.  .  .  .  We  have  found 
that  no  society  can  march  hellward  faster  than  a 
democracy  under  the  banner  of  unbridled  individu 
alism." 

Three  years  before  Miss  Tarbell  displayed  the 
tendency  of  the  trusts,  President  Hadley,  of  Yale, 
had  suggested  that  social  ostracism,  or  social  stigma, 
might  be  made  an  efficient  tool  for  reform.  Other 
writers  used  the  tool.  Lincoln  Steffens,  in  a  series 
of  articles  on  "  The  Shame  of  the  Cities,"  exposed 
the  connection  between  graft  and  politics.  Thomas 
Lawson,  with  spectacular  exaggeration,  laid  the 
troubles  of  society  at  the  feet  of  "  Frenzied  Finance." 
Collier's  Weekly  undertook  to  reveal  the  worthless- 
ness  and  fraud  in  the  trade  in  patent  medicines. 
Many  of  the  exposers  encroached  upon  the  fields  of 
fiction  in  their  work,  while  books  of  avowed  fiction  ex 
ploited  the  conditions  they  portrayed.  Coniston,  by 


THE   "MUCK-RAKERS"  311 

Winston  Churchill,  was  based  upon  the  control  of  a 
State  by  a  railroad  boss.  Upton  Sinclair  wrote  The 
Jungle  to  expose  the  meat-packers. 

A  new  journalism  aided  and  was  aided  by  the  zeal 
to  expose  and  the  greed  of  the  public  for  literature 
of  exposure.  In  the  later  nineties  city  journalism  was 
reorganized  under  the  influence  of  the  "  yellow  "  pa 
pers,  and  sensational  news  was  made  a  profitable 
commodity  as  never  before.  The  range  of  the  daily 
paper  was,  however,  limited  by  a  few  hundred  miles, 
and  its  influence  could  not  become  national.  A  new 
periodical  literature,  resembling  the  old  literary 
monthlies,  but  using  many  timely  and  journalistic 
articles,  sprang  into  life  and  gained  national  circula 
tion  and  influence.  S.  S.  McClure  was  one  of  its  pio 
neers.  Everybody's,  the  Cosmopolitan,  Munsey's,' 
the  American,  and  weeklies  like  Collier's,  the  Out-  V  A^ 
look,  and  the  Independent  were  among  the  journals 
that  helped  to  spread  the  conclusions  and  advocate 
reforms.  Besides  these  a  horde  of  imitators  fattened 
for  a  time  upon  exposure. 

Journalism  had  a  large  part  in  directing  the  X 
American  revival,  and  private  investigators  furnished 
many  of  the  facts.  Public  suits  marked  an  attempt 
to  act  upon  the  facts  and  remedy  them.  In  Missouri 
Joseph  W.  Folk  conducted  a  series  of  prosecutions 
against  grafters  in  St.  Louis  that  elevated  him  in  a 
few  months  to  the  head  of  his  party  and  the  govern 
orship  of  his  State.  The  Bureau  of  Corporations, 
attached  to  the  new  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor  in  1903,  made  a  series  of  reports  the  most 
notable  of  which  showed  that  the  charges  against  the 


312  THE  NEW  NATION 

Standard  Oil  Company  for  extorting  rebates,  and 
against  the  meat-packers  for  unsanitary  conditions, 
were  founded  upon  fact. 

The  most  notable  public  exposure  of  indiscretion 
and  wrongdoing  in  high  finance  occurred  in  New 
York.  Here,  during  1905,  a  quarrel  over  the  manage 
ment  of  the  Equitable  Life  Insurance  Company  led 
to  a  legislative  investigation  by  a  so-called  Armstrong 
Committee.  One  of  the  attorneys  employed  by 
the  committee,  Charles  E.  Hughes,  soon  became  the 
spirit  of  the  examination.  One  by  one  he  called  in 
surance  officers  to  the  witness  stand,  and  drew  from 
their  reluctant  lips  the  story  of  their  relation  to 
banking,  to  speculative  finance,  and  to  politics.  He 
revealed  the  existence  of  a  group  among  the  bankers 
not  unlike  a  money  trust.  He  proved  that  for  at  least 
three  national  campaigns  the  insurance  companies, 
like  other  corporations,  had  given  heavy  subsidies  to 
the  campaign  funds,  sometimes  of  both  but  always 
of  the  Republican  party. 

Whenever  an  investigator  rose  above  the  level  and 
established  his  reputation  for  honesty  and  compe 
tence,  the  aroused  public  seized  upon  him  for  use  in 
politics.  In  September,  1906,  the  Democrats  of  New 
York  nominated  the  most  successful  of  the  sensa 
tional  journalists,  Hearst,  for  governor.  On  the  same 
day  the  Republican  Convention,  in  which  no  delegate 
had  been  instructed  for  him,  nominated  Hughes  as 
governor  of  New  York,  because  public  opinion  in  the 
party  would  take  no  other  candidate.  Hughes  was 
elected  in  1906  and  again  in  1908,  in  spite  of  the 
hostility  of  Republican  party  leaders.  His  adminis- 


THE   "MUCK-RAKERS"  313 

trations  were  prophetic  of  the  new  spirit  that  was 
entering  politics. 

Many  of  the  problems  raised  by  the  investigations 
were  old  and  presented  only  a  need  for  an  honest 
enforcement  of  the  law  against  lawbreakers.  Others 
were  simple  and  prescribed  their  own  methods  of 
treatment.  The  evil  of  corporation  contributions  to 
campaign  funds  was  met  in  1907  by  a  law  forbidding 
national  banks  to  contribute  to  any  election,  or  any 
corporations  to  contribute  to  a  presidential  or  con 
gressional  election.  In  1906  the  gift  of  free  railroad 
passes  upon  interstate  railroads  was  prohibited  by 
law.  The  presidential  candidates  in  1908  pledged 
themselves  to  publicity  in  the  matter  of  contribu 
tions,  while  the  complaints  of  poverty-stricken  cam 
paign  managers  in  1908  and  1912  indicated  that  the 
laws  were  generally  obeyed.  Still  other  problems 
raised  large  questions  of  scientific  investigation  and 
legislation. 

The  reaction  from  the  carelessness  revealed  by  the 
investigation  of  the  meat-packers  stimulated  a  pure- 
food  movement  that  had  had  its  advocates  for  many 
years.  With  the  concentration  of  food  manufacture 
and  the  increase  in  the  consumption  of  "  package  pro 
ducts,"  the  consumer  had  given  up  the  preparation  of 
his  own  food  and  thrown  himself  upon  the  dealer. 
The  numerous  domestic  industries  typical  of  the 
American  family  in  1880  had  been  sorted  out.  The 
sewing  had  gone  to  the  sweat  shop  and  the  factory, 
the  baking  had  gone  to  the  public  baker,  the  laundry 
was  going,  the  killing  and  preservation  of  meat  and 
the  preparation  of  canned  vegetables  and  fruits  were 


314  THE  NEW  NATION 

nearly  gone.  Population  followed  the  industries  to 
work  in  the  factories.  Country  life  lost  much  of  its 
variety  and  interest,  while  the  congested  masses  in  the 
cities  were  made  dependent  for  their  health  and 
strength  upon  private  initiative.  Rigorous  bills  for  the 
inspection  of  meats  at  the  slaughter  houses,  and  for  the 
proper  labeling  of  manufactured  foods  and  medicines, 
were  carried  through  Congress  in  1906  on  the  strength 
of  the  popular  revulsion  against  the  manufacturers. 
Hereafter  the  Department  of  Agriculture  stood  be 
tween  the  people  and  their  food.  James  Wilson,  of 
Iowa,  had  been  Secretary  since  1897  and  remained 
in  the  office  until  1913.  He  and  his  subordinates, 
notably  Dr.  Harvey  Wriley,  in  charge  of  the  pure- 
food  work,  administered  the  law  amid  the  proddings 
of  consumers  and  the  protests  of  manufacturers.  With 
much  complaint,  but  with  little  difficulty  because  of 
the  consolidation  of  control,  business  adjusted  itself 
to  the  new  requirements  and  labels  in  the  next  few 
years. 

The  anti-railroad  movement  reminded  the  public 
that  the  Interstate  Commerce  Law  of  1887  was  an 
imperfect  statute.  It  had  always  done  less  than  its 
framers  had  intended.  Judicial  interpretation  had 
limited  its  scope.  The  commission  did  not  have  power 
to  fix  a  rate  or  to  compel  in  the  railroads  the  uni 
formity  of  bookkeeping  without  which  no  scientific 
rates  could  be  established.  After  Eoosevelt  had 
directed  his  speeches  of  1903  and  1904  to  the  sub 
ject,  Congress  responded  to  the  public  interest  thus 
aroused  with  a  flood  of  projected  railroad  bills.  One 
of  these  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1905, 


THE   "MUCK-RAKERS"  315 

but  was  held  up  in  the  Senate  while  a  new  investi 
gation  of  interstate  commerce,  the  most  exhaustive 
since  the  Cullom  investigation  of  1885,  was  under 
taken.  In  1906  the  Hepburn  Railway  Bill  was  passed. 
In  its  chief  provisions  it  gave  the  Interstate  Com 
merce  Commission  power  to  fix  rates  and  to  pre 
scribe  uniform  bookkeeping,  and  it  forbade  railways 
to  issue  free  passes  or  to  own  the  freight  they  car 
ried.  The  long  railroad  debate  was  made  notable  by 
the  speeches  of  a  new  Senator,  Robert  M.  LaFollette, 
of  Wisconsin,  who  had  fought  his  way  to  the  gover 
norship  on  this  issue  and  gone  through  a  prolonged 
fight  with  the  railroads  of  his  own  State.  He  insisted 
that  public  rate-making  could  not  succeed  without  a 
preliminary  physical  valuation  of  the  roads  that  would 
show  the  extent  of  their  real  capitalization.  He  talked, 
often,  to  empty  chairs  in  the  Senate,  but  he  prophesied 
that  the  people  had  a  new  interest  in  their  affairs, 
and  that  many  of  the  seats,  vacant  because  of  the 
indifference  of  their  owners,  would  soon  be  filled  with 
Senators  of  a  new  type.  In  vacations  he  spoke  to 
public  audiences  on  the  same  subject,  reading  his 
"  roll-call,"  and  telling  the  people  how  their  repre 
sentatives  voted  for  or  against  commercial  privilege. 
With  its  enlarged  powers  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  made  rapid  headway  against  rebates  and 
discrimination. 

The  popular  revival  was  well  advanced  by  1905, 
but  was  becoming  more  sensational  every  month. 
Led  on  by  an  expectant  public,  the  magazines  manu 
factured  exposures  to  supply  the  market,  and  hysteria 
often  took  the  place  of  investigation.  The  real  needs 


316  THE  NEW  NATION 

of  reform  were  in  danger  of  being  lost  in  a  flood  of 
denunciation.  In  the  spring  of  1906  President  Roose- 
velt  spoke  out  to  check  the  indiscriminate  abuse.  He 
drew  his  topic  from  Bunyan's  "  Man  with  the  Muck- 
Rake,"  pointed  out  that  blame  and  exposure  had  run 
its  course,  and  demanded  that  enforcement  of  the 
law  be  taken  up,  and  that  efforts  be  turned  from 
destruction  to  construction.  He  had  done  much  him 
self  to  "arouse  the  slumbering  conscience  of  the 
nation,"  and  turned  now  to  direct  it  toward  a  perma 
nent  advantage. 

The  trend  of  criticism  injured  the  party  under 
whose  administration  corporate  abuse  had  grown  up. 
The  personal  popularity  of  Roosevelt,  and  his  asso 
ciates,  Root,  Taft,  Knox,  and  Hughes,  saved  the 
party  from  defeat.  In  1906  the  congressional  cam 
paign  was  fought  on  the  basis  of  holding  on  to  pros 
perity,  enforcing  the  law  against  all  violators,  and 
strengthening  the  hands  of  government.  Roosevelt 
wrote  the  substance  of  the  platform,  and  his  party 
gained  control  of  its  sixth  consecutive  Congress  since 
1896.  The  canvass  over,  Roosevelt  departed  from 
an  old  precedent,  left  the  territory  of  the  United 
States,  and  visited  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  to  inspect 
the  work  on  the  canal. 

Six  months  after  the  signing  of  the  Panama  Treaty 
in  1903  the  United  States  took  possession  of  the 
Canal  Zone  and  began  to  dig.  It  had  to  learn  les 
sons  of  both  management  and  tropical  engineering. 
One  by  one  its  chief  engineers  deserted  the  enterprise. 
The  choice  between  a  sea-level  and  a  lock  canal  di 
vided  the  experts.  The  legislation  by  Congress  was 


THE  "MUCK-RAKERS"  31? 

inadequate.  In  the  spring  of  1906  Roosevelt,  with 
the  approval  of  Taf t,  who  had  been  recalled  from  the 
Philippines  to  be  Secretary  of  War,  determined  to 
build  a  lock  canal.  The  President  tramped  over  the 
workings  in  November,  1906,  and  sent  an  illustrated 
message  about  them  to  Congress  on  his  return.  In 
1907  Major  George  W.  Goethals  was  detailed  from 
the  army  to  be  benevolent  despot  and  engineer  of  the 
Canal  Zone.  Inspired  and  encouraged  by  repeated 
visits  from  Taft,  the  work  now  made  rapid  progress 
toward  completion.  Sir  Frederick  Treves,  the  great 
English  surgeon,  visited  the  canal  in  1908,  and  found 
there  not  only  gigantic  engineering  works,  but  a 
triumph  for  the  preventive  medicine  of  Colonel 
William  C.  Gorgas,  chief  of  the  sanitary  officers. 

The  attention  of  the  world,  directed  toward  the 
United  States  since  1898,  was  held  by  the  canal  and 
by  a  continuation  of  a  vigorous  and  open  diplomacy. 
In  February,  1904,  Russia  and  Japan,  unable  to 
agree  upon  the  conduct  of  the  former  in  Manchuria, 
had  gone  to  war.  Hostilities  had  continued  until 
Russian  prestige  was  shattered  and  Japanese  finance 
was  wavering.  In  June,  1905,  the  United  States 
directed  identical  notes  to  the  belligerents,  offering 
a  friendly  mediation.  The  invitation  was  accepted, 
and  during  the  summer  of  1905  the  envoys  of  Russia 
and  Japan  met  in  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  to 
conclude  a  treaty  of  peace.  In  1906  the  Nobel  Com 
mittee  awarded  to  Roosevelt  the  annual  prize  for 
services  to  peace. 

Relations  with  all  the  world  were  friendly  between 
1905  and  1909.  Great  Britain  contributed  to  the 


318  THE  NEW  NATION 

cordiality  by  sending  to  the  United  States  as  her 
ambassador  the  best-fitted  of  her  subjects,  James 
Bryce.  Under  his  tactful  management  the  next  five 
years  were  a  period  of  unprecedented  friendship.  The 
South  American  republics,  always  sensitive  about  the 
headship  of  the  United  States,  were  brought  to  kind 
lier  feelings.  There  had  been  two  congresses  of  all 
the  Americas,  one  in  1889,  at  the  instigation  of 
Elaine,  the  next  in  Mexico  in  1901.  In  1906  the 
American  republics  convened  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  in 
July.  Secretary  of  State  Elihu  Root  made  a  plea 
for  friendship  before  this  congress.  From  Rio  he  went 
to  other  capitals  of  South  America,  achieving  notable 
triumphs  in  his  public  speeches. 

The  Pan-American  Conference  at  Rio  was  an 
American  preliminary  to  a  larger  meeting  in  which 
the  United  States  played  an  important  part  in  1907. 
During  1904  Roosevelt  had  agreed  to  start  a  move 
ment  for  a  second  conference  at  The  Hague.  He  took 
up  the  negotiation  during  the  Russo-Japanese  War, 
deferred  it  at  the  instance  of  the  Czar,  and  then 
stood  aside  to  let  the  latter  issue  the  formal  invita 
tion.  The  American  delegation  at  the  Second  Hague 
Conference  was  led  by  Joseph  H.  Choate,  leader  of 
the  American  Bar  and  former  ambassador  to  Great 
Britain.  It  forced  the  discussion  throughout  the  ses 
sion,  tried  in  vain  to  produce  an  agreement  to  abol 
ish  the  right  of  capture  of  enemy  property  on  the 
high  seas  in  time  of  war,  and  helped  to  strengthen 
the  permanent  court  of  arbitration.  In  January, 
1906,  the  United  States  had  sat  in  conference  at 
Algeciras,  over  the  affairs  of  Morocco.  It  had  medi- 


THE   "MUCK-RAKERS"  319 

ated  in  the  Oriental  war.  It  had  strengthened  its 
position  at  home.  It  was  no  longer  true  that  the 
United  States  was  entirely  disinterested  in  the  affairs 
of  Europe,  for  it  had  become  a  world  power. 

A  visible  emblem  of  power  was  afforded  to  the 
world  in  1907.  Since  the  Treaty  of  Portsmouth 
there  had  been  friction  with  Japan  over  the  treat 
ment  of  Japanese  subjects  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and 
alarmists  had  drawn  pictures  of  a  possible  war.  Late 
in  1907  the  President  announced  a  practice  voyage 
for  the  whole  effective  navy  that  would  carry  it  around 
South  America  and  into  the  Pacific.  In  December  he 
reviewed  the  fleet,  and  saw  it  off  from  Hampton  Roads. 
From  the  Pacific  it  was  ordered  round  the  world, 
visited  Japan  and  China,  and  was  received  with  keen 
interest  everywhere.  It  came  home  early  in  1909, 
having  made  a  record  for  holding  together  without 
breakdown  or  accident. 

While  the  fleet  was  going  round  the  world  and 
business  was  adjusting  itself  to  the  new  constructive 
laws,  an  old  problem  was  formally  ended.  The  tribal 
sovereignty,  which  had  made  the  Indians  a  problem, 
was  terminated.  The  Dawes  Act  of  1887  had  substi 
tuted  severalty  for  tribal  landholdings  among  the 
Indians.  Out  of  the  first  cessions  which  followed  the 
act  Oklahoma  Territory  had  been  made  in  1890. 
This  had  developed  more  rapidly  than  any  previous 
Territory  because  of  the  railroads  that  crossed  it  in 
every  direction.  By  1900  it  demanded  statehood. 
In  1906  it  was  enabled,  and  during  1907  it  was  ad 
mitted,  with  the  longest  and  most  radical  of  state 
constitutions.  Fear  of  the  activities  of  corporate 


320  THE  NEW  NATION 

wealth  and  distrust  of  the  agents  of  government 
were  written  into  nearly  every  article. 

In  the  spring  of  1908  nearly  all  of  the  forty-six 
governors  met  with  President  Roosevelt  in  the  White 
House  and  registered  another  problem  upon  which 
agitation  and  revelation  had  led  to  public  reflection. 
The  coal  strikes  of  1900  and  1902  had  drawn  atten 
tion  to  the  possible  relation  of  government  to  the  coal 
supply  of  the  people.  The  beginnings  of  reclamation 
in  1902  had  revealed  the  fact  that  public  reclama 
tion  was  impeded  by  large  private  and  corporate 
water  rights.  The  natural  resources  of  the  country 
were  seen  to  be  following  the  course  of  all  business 
and  settling  into  the  control  of  great  corporations. 
The  waste  of  coal  and  timber  and  water  and  land  itself 
was  unreasonable.  The  denudation  of  the  hills  led  to 
terrible  floods  along  the  rivers.  The  future  was  being 
darkened  by  the  organized  selfishness  of  the  present. 
A  movement  for  conservation  grew  out  of  the  confer 
ence  of  governors,  but  Congress  for  the  present 
would  not  encourage  it. 

In  popular  education,  in  initiation  of  new  admin 
istrative  policies,  and  in  the  passage  of  constructive 
laws  efforts  were  being  made  to  adjust  government 
to  the  needs  of  modern  industry  and  to  safeguard 
society.  The  business  interests  affected  by  the  changes 
obstructed  the  process  when  they  could,  and  were 
intensified  in  their  opposition  by  the  series  of  prose 
cutions  brought  by  Attorney-General  Knox,  and  his 
successor  Charles  J.  Bonaparte,  under  the  Sherman 
Law.  At  no  time  in  the  earlier  history  of  this  law 
had  there  been  a  strong  disposition  to  test  its  merit, 


THE   "MUCK-RAKERS"  321 

and  no  one  of  the  notorious  trusts  had  been  attacked 
before  the  Northern  Securities  case.  In  later  years 
it  was  turned  against  the  Standard  Oil  Company, 
the  beef -packers,  the  Tobacco  Trust,  the  Sugar  Trust, 
and  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation,  while  rail 
ways  and  smaller  corporations,  in  great  number,  were 
prosecuted.  The  enforcement  of  the  law  aroused 
blind  opposition  among  many  of  the  victims,  and 
stimulated  queries  as  to  whether  or  not  any  attempt 
to  limit  the  size  of  business  was  sound  public  policy. 
The  debate  upon  regulation,  as  against  prohibition 
of  trusts  and  monopolies,  ran  on  with  no  sign  of 
victory  for  either  side  of  the  argument.  Personal 
hostility  against  the  Administration  for  applying 
the  law  gave  color  to  the  last  two  years  of  Roosevelt's 
Administration. 

By  1907  there  had  been  ten  years  of  the  prosper 
ity  that  had  begun  with  the  election  of  McKinley. 
Finance  had  developed  with  industry  and  trade.  The 
needs  of  corporations  dealing  in  millions  and  hun 
dreds  of  millions  of  capital  had  induced  the  consoli 
dation  of  banks  and  the  concentration  of  financial 
power  in  the  hands  of  a  small  group  of  men.  The  hold 
ing  companies  were  great  aids  in  the  furtherance  of 
this  concentration.  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  and  John 
D.  Rockefeller  were  best  known  as  representative 
of  the  inner  circle.  Their  speculations  and  invest 
ments  were  embarrassed  by  the  weakening  of  public 
confidence.  It  was  certain  there  would  come  a  time 
when  the  whole  surplus  capital  of  the  United  States 
would  be  invested  in  permanent  improvements.  Such 
periods  had  followed  eras  of  boom  in  1837, 1857,  and 


322  THE  NEW  NATION 

1873.  It  was  too  probable  that  some  accident  occur 
ring  in  the  period  of  liquidation  would  create  a  panic. 
Suspicion  had  been  directed  against  the  controlling 
agents  of  business  by  the  revelations  of  1902—07.  It 
was  exaggerated  by  sensational  journalism.  It  reached 
a  climax  in  the  fall  of  1907  when  a  group  of  banks, 
reputed  strong,  failed  through  dishonesty  and  specu 
lative  management.  The  failure  of  the  Mercantile 
National  Bank  and  the  suspension  of  the  Knicker 
bocker  Trust  Company  in  New  York  brought  the 
crisis  on  October  22,  1907.  The  loss  to  the  public 
was  lessened  by  resolute  and  sympathetic  coopera 
tion  among  the  clearing-houses,  Morgan,  Rockefeller, 
and  the  United  States  Treasury,  but  a  period  of 
enforced  economy  was  begun  for  all. 

The  managers  of  big  business  attributed  the  panic 
to  "Theodore  the  Meddler."  They  claimed  that  busi 
ness  was  sound  and  honest,  and  the  upheaval  was 
caused  by  the  agitation  of  demagogues.  The  Presi 
dent,  they  asserted,  had  destroyed  confidence  by  his 
attack  on  the  commercial  class.  Federal  prosecutions, 
new  laws,  and  the  enforcement  of  inquisitorial  pure- 
food  regulations  had  made  it  impossible  for  business 
to  live.  "  Let  us  alone,"  they  cried. 

They  convinced  only  themselves,  a  small  minority 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Since  1902  the 
people  as  a  body,  regardless  of  the  great  parties,  had 
opened  their  eyes  to  the  trend  of  business  and  had  \ 
decided  that  public  authority  must  be  summoned  to 
the  defense  of  democracy.  The  independent  vote 
broke  away  from  each  party  in  increasingly  numerous 
cases.  The  old  American  view  that  democracy  meant 


THE   "MUCK-RAKERS"  323 

unrestrained  individualism  had  given  way  to  the 
newer  view  that  democratic  opportunity  was  depen 
dent  upon  the  restriction  of  monopoly.  The  osten 
sible  leaders,  from  the  President  down,  were  only 
the  mouths  that  spoke  the  new  language.  Without 
them  the  same  condition  would  have  existed  in  large 
degree.  The  attack  of  the  financial  interests  and 
Wall  Street  upon  the  President  only  convinced  the 
people  that  the  Roosevelt  policies  were,  on  the  whole, 
their  policies,  and  that  individual  interest  and  party 
machinery  must  give  way  to  their  attainment. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  periodicals  and  special  articles  alluded  to  in  this  chap 
ter  constitute  the  best  sources  as  yet  available  for  the  period. 
There  were  numerous  investigations  by  committees  of  Congress 
that  furnished  facts  in  their  reports.  Certain  of  the  depart 
ments  of  government,  notably  the  Bureau  of  Corporations  and 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  were  active  in  the  publication 
of  facts.  Thoughtful  surveys  of  society  in  the  United  States 
may  be  found  in  E.  A.  Ross,  Changing  America  (1912);  H. 
Croly,  The  Promise  of  American  Life  (1909);  A.  B.  Hart, 
National  Ideals  Historically  Traced  (in  The  American  Nation, 
vol.  26,  1907).  The  autobiography  of  R.  M.  LaFollette  is  of 
considerable  value.  A  great  number  of  books  upon  America 
by  foreign  visitors  bring  out  special  viewpoints.  Among  these 
are  F.  Klein,  In  the  Land  of  the  Strenuous  Life  (1905) ;  A. 
Bennett,  Your  United  States  (1912)  ;  W.  Archer,  America  To- 
Day  (1899) ;  Anon.,  As  a  Chinaman  Saw  Us  (1904) ;  and  James 
Bryce  has  revised  and  brought  down  to  date  his  American  Com 
monwealth. 


CHAPTER  XX 

NEW   NATIONALISM 

THE  process  of  adjusting  national  administration 
and  laws,  to  meet  the  needs  of  life  and  business  that 
knew  no  state  lines,  had  been  begun  during  the 
Roosevelt  period.  For  its  completion  it  was  neces 
sary  that  a  successor  be  found,  convinced  of  the 
Roosevelt  policies  and  able  to  carry  them  out.  Three 
Republicans  of  this  type  were  often  mentioned  for 
the  Presidency  in  1908.  Elihu  Root  had  been  the 
legal  mainstay  of  three  administrations,  and  had  re 
ceived  the  public  commendation  of  Roosevelt  often 
and  without  restraint.  His  availability  for  the  elective 
office  was,  however,  weakened  by  his  prominence  as 
a  corporation  lawyer,  which  would  be  urged  against 
him  in  a  campaign.  William  H.  Taft,  Secretary  of 
War,  had  a  wider  popularity  than  Root ;  had,  as  fed 
eral  judge,  long  been  identified  with  the  enforcement 
of  law,  and  had  been  used  repeatedly  as  the  spokes 
man  of  the  President.  He  knew  the  colonies  as  no 
other  American  knew  them,  and  was  in  touch  with 
every  detail  of  the  Panama  Canal.  Neither  he  nor 
Root  had  won  a  leadership  in  competitive  politics  as 
had  the  third  candidate,  Charles  E.  Hughes,  who,  as 
Governor  of  New  York,  had  shown  his  capacity  to 
fight  professional  politicians  on  their  own  ground. 

In  1907,  President  Roosevelt  announced  his  pref 
erence  for  Judge  Taft,  and  fought  off,  as  he  had 


NEW   NATIONALISM  325 

often  done,  suggestions  that  he  accept  another 
term  himself.  He  controlled  the  Republican  conven 
tion  at  Chicago,  where  his  candidate  was  nominated 
on  the  first  ballot.  A  Republican  Representative 
from  New  York,  James  S.  Sherman,  was  nominated 
for  the  Vice-Presidency,  and  the  party  leaders  were 
driven  to  a  platform  of  enthusiastic  indorsement  of 
the  Roosevelt  policies. 

The  Democratic  party,  meeting  at  Denver  in  1908, 
was  again  under  the  control  of  the  radical  element, 
and  nominated  William  J.  Bryan  for  the  third  time. 
The  career  of  Roosevelt  had  modified  the  emphasis 
of  the  Bryan  reforms.  "  Any  Republican  who,  after 
following  Roosevelt,  should  object  to  Bryan  as  a 
radical,  would  simply  be  laughed  at  consumedly," 
said  one  of  the  weeklies.  In  the  ensuing  campaign 
both  candidates  professed  ends  that  were  nearly 
identical,  and  their  advocates  were  forced  to  explain 
whether  the  Roosevelt  policies  would  have  a  better 
chance  under  Bryan  or  Taft.  There  was  no  clear  issue, 
and  in  each  party  there  was  a  powerful  minority  that 
wanted  neither  of  the  candidates.  The  election  of 
Taft  had  been  discounted  throughout  the  campaign, 
but  it  was  accompanied  by  a  demonstration  of  inde 
pendent  voting  that  revealed  the  weakness  of  party 
ties.  Four  Democratic  governors  were  elected  in 
States  that  were  carried  by  the  Republican  national 
ticket. 

The  Administration  of  President  Taft  was  greeted 
with  cordial  good  will  by  the  progressive  elements  in 
both  parties.  His  courage  and  sincerity  had  never 
been  questioned.  Roosevelt  was  unlimited  in  his 


326  THE   NEW   NATION 

praise.  His  judicial  training  made  impossible  for 
him  types  of  political  activity  that  had  made  ene 
mies  for  his  predecessor  among  many  conservatives, 
yet  his  devotion  to  policies  of  administrative  reform 
was  beyond  dispute.  He  immediately  fulfilled  one 
pledge  o&  the  Republican  platform  by  summoning 
Congress  to  meet  on  March  15,  1909,  to  revise  the 
tariff,  and  on  this  subject  he  had  for  several  years 
avowed  a  desire  that  revision  should  be  downward, 
to  remove  all  trace  of  special  tariff  privilege. 

The  movement  for  tariff  reform  had  begun  in  the 
Middle  West  about  1902,  and  had  spread  with  the 
feeling  against  the  trusts.  Roosevelt  had  indicated  a 
sympathy  with  it  in  1902  and  1903,  and  had  fought 
Congress  for  tariff  modification  in  the  interest  of 
Cuban  reciprocity.  But  most  of  the  party  leaders 
had  opposed  tampering  with  the  protective  system. 
Speaker  Cannon  was  an  avowed  protectionist  and  de 
fended  the  attitude  of  the  stand-pat  tariff  advocates. 
After  1904  the  President  had  ceased  to  discuss  the 
tariff,  confining  himself  to  other  schemes  for  reform. 
He  left  the  problem  of  revision  to  his  successor. 

The  tariff  of  1909  bore  the  names  of  Sereno  E. 
Payne,  of  New  York,  chairman  of  the  House  Com 
mittee  of  Ways  and  Means,  and  Nelson  W.  Aldrich, 
chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Finance.  As 
it  passed  the  House  it  embodied  numerous  reduc 
tions  from  the  Dingley  rates.  In  the  Senate  it 
was  reframed  and  became  an  instrument  of  even 
greater  protection  than  the  existing  law.  It  was  de 
bated  in  a  stronger  glare  of  public  interest  than 
any  other  tariff,  and  its  details  were  explained  and 


NEW   NATIONALISM  327 

fought  by  a  group  of  Republicans  who  refused  to 
accept  the  control  of  the  inner  circle  of  the  party, 
and  who  were  determined  that  the  revision  should 
be  downward  and  sincere.  They  did  less  to  affect  the 
bill,  however,  than  President  Taft,  who  forced  the 
conference  committee  to  accept  a  few  reductions  in 
the  rates,  notably  on  hides  and  lumber,  and  to  include 
a  provision  for  levying  an  income  tax  on  corpora 
tions.  A  constitutional  amendment,  authorizing  a 
general  income  tax,  was  a  part  of  the  agreement.  The 
bill  became  a  law  in  August,  1909.  "  The  bill,  in  its 
final  form,"  said  the  Outlook,  which  inclined  toward 
free  trade,  uis  by  far  the  most  enlightened  protec 
tionist  measure  ever  enacted  in  the  history  of  the 
country."  "  I  think  that  the  present  tariff,"  wrote 
Roosevelt,  who  had  returned  to  private  life,  "is  bet 
ter  than  the  last,  and  considerably  better  than  the 
one  before  the  last." 

Whatever  its  relation  to  earlier  tariffs  the  Payne- 
Aldrich  Act  was  distasteful  to  the  country,  which 
had  since  1897  become  critical  of  the  methods  of 
tariff  legislation.  Seven  Republican  Senators  and 
twenty  Representatives  voted  against  it  on  its  final 
passage.  These  represented  the  Middle  West  and 
the  new  generation,  and  returned  home  to  find  their 
constituents  generally  with  them  in  denouncing  the 
measure  as  an  instrument  of  privilege.  Some  of  them 
had  broken  with  President  Taft  during  the  debate, 
and  the  breach  was  deepened  when  the  latter  spoke 
in  the  West,  at  Winona,  Minnesota,  and  defended 
the  act  as  a  compliance  with  the  party  pledge.  It 
became  apparent  that  the  new  President  was  unable 


328  THE   NEW  NATION 

to  procure  party  legislation  and  to  maintain  at  the 
same  time  an  appearance  of  harmony  in  the  party. 
Roosevelt  had  dissatisfied  but  had  overriden  the  con 
servative  wing ;  Taft  failed  to  satisfy  the  most  pro 
gressive  wing  and  failed  to  silence  them. 

In  the  autumn  of  1909  began  a  series  of  admin 
istrative  misunderstandings  that  greatly  embarrassed 
the  Taft  Administration.  A  prospective  minister  to 
China  was  dismissed  abruptly  before  he  left  the 
United  States,  on  account  of  a  supposed  indiscre 
tion.  In  the  Department  of  Agriculture  there  was 
dissension  between  the  Secretary,  James  Wilson,  and 
the  chemist  engaged  in  the  enforcement  of  the  Pure 
Food  Law,  Harvey  W.  Wiley.  The  chief  of  the  for 
estry  service,  Gifford  Pinch ot,  quarreled  openly  with 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Richard  A.  Ballinger, 
and  raised  the  question  of  the  future  of  the  policy 
of  conservation. 

The  work  of  the  forestry  and  reclamation  services 
was  at  the  center  of  the  scheme  for  conservation  of 
natural  resources  that  had  grown  out  of  Roosevelt's 
conference  with  the  governors  in  1908.  A  subordi 
nate  of  the  forestry  service  attacked  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  in  1909,  charging  favoritism  and  lack 
of  interest  in  conservation.  He  was  dismissed  in 
September,  upon  order  of  President  Taft,  whereupon 
Collier's  Weekly  undertook  an  attack  upon  the 
President  as  an  enemy  of  conservation,  receiving  the 
moral  support  of  many  of  the  progressives  who  dis 
liked  the  tariff  act.  In  January,  1910,  the  growing 
controversy  led  the  President  to  dismiss  Pinchot 
from  the  service,  for  insubordination,  and  Congress 


NEW   NATIONALISM  329 

to  erect  a  joint  committee  to  investigate  the  Pinchot- 
Ballinger  dispute. 

The  Ballinger  committee  ultimately  vindicated 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  but  the  testimony 
taken  brought  out  a  fundamental  difference  between 
the  theory  of  Taft,  that  the  President  could  act  only 
in  accordance  with  the  law,  and  that  of  Roosevelt, 
that  he  could  do  whatever  was  not  forbidden  by  law. 
Although  Taft  stood  by  his  subordinate,  claiming 
that  he  and  Ballinger  were  both  active  in  conserva 
tion,  a  large  section  of  the  public  believed  that  the 
aggressive  movement  for  reform  had  lost  momentum. 
What  Roosevelt  thought  of  it  was  impossible  to 
learn,  since  he  had  gone  to  Africa  in  1909,  and  re 
mained  outside  the  sphere  of  American  politics  un 
til  the  summer  of  1910. 

The  progressive  Republicans  revolted  in  1909  and 
1910  against  the  domination  of  the  "  stand-pat " 
group,  and  received  the  name  "  Insurgents."  Sen 
ators  LaFollette  and  Cummins,  both  of  whom  de 
sired  to  be  President,  were  the  avowed  leaders.  In 
the  House  of  Representatives,  in  March,  1910,  the 
Insurgents  cooperated  with  the  Democratic  minority, 
defeated  a  ruling  of  Speaker  Cannon,  and  modified 
the  House  rules  in  order  to  curtail  the  autocracy  of 
the  presiding  officer.  They  asked  the  country  to  be 
lieve  that  Taft  had  ceased  to  be  progressive  and  had 
become  the  ally  of  the  stand-pat  interests.  The  split 
in  the  Republican  party  enabled  the  Democrats  to 
carry  the  country  in  1910,  and  to  obtain  a  large 
majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Champ 
Clark,  of  Missouri,  and  Oscar  Underwood,  of  Ala- 


330  THE   NEW   NATION 

bama,  both  aspirants  for  the  Democratic  presiden 
tial  nomination,  became,  respectively,  Speaker  and 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means  in  the 
new  House.  No  one  man  controlled  or  led  either  party 
by  his  personality  as  Theodore  Roosevelt  had  done; 
the  rivalry  of  lesser  leaders  destroyed  the  harmony 
of  both  parties,  and  neither  party  even  approached 
unanimity  in  regard  to  the  great  policies  of  the  fu 
ture.  In  January,  1911,  the  Insurgent  Republi 
cans  organized  a  Progressive  Republican  League 
for  the  purpose  of  capturing  the  nomination  in 
1912  for  one  of  their  number,  presumably  Senator 
LaFollette. 

The  Taft  policies  differed  from  those  of  his  pre 
decessor  chiefly  in  the  method  of  their  advocacy. 
Like  Roosevelt,  Taft  had  trouble  in  getting  them 
enacted,  and  unlike  Roosevelt,  he  failed  to  magnet 
ize  the  people  and  carry  them  with  him.  He  pro 
cured,  however,  funds  for  the  creation  of  a  board  of 
tariff  experts  to  aid  in  future  revisions  of  schedules, 
and  for  a  commerce  court,  to  handle  appeals  in  in 
terstate  commerce  cases.  The  income  tax  amendment 
secured  his  support.  He  used  his  influence  to  pre 
vent  the  seating  of  William  Lorimer,  a  Senator 
elected  from  Illinois  under  conditions  of  grave  scan 
dal.  The  Interstate  Commerce  Law  was  revised  and 
strengthened  in  1910.  An  enabling  act  for  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico  was  passed  in  1910,  under  which 
both  of  these  Territories  became  States  in  1912.  He 
continued  the  series  of  anti-trust  suits  begun  under 
Roosevelt,  and  procured  decisions  ordering  the  dis 
solution  of  the  Southern  Pacific  merger,  the  Stand- 


NEW   NATIONALISM  331 

ard  Oil  Company,  and  the  Tobacco  Trust,  and  the 
penalizing  of  many  others. 

In  the  field  of  administration  President  Taft 
showed  an  instinct  for  orderly  and  economical  gov 
ernment.  He  urged  upon  Congress  the  adoption  of 
a  budget  system  for  expenditures,  and  employed  a 
body  of  experts  to  aid  in  reducing  the  cost  and  inef 
ficiency  of  the  executive  departments.  He  extended 
the  civil  service  until  in  1912  only  56,000  of  the 
334,000  federal  employees  were  still  outside  the 
classified  service. 

The  foreign  negotiations  of  the  Taft  Administra 
tion  were  most  distinguished  in  respect  to  Latin- 
American  trade,  to  arbitration,  to  neutrality,  and  to 
reciprocity.  With  the  Latin- Americas  he  continued 
the  policy  of  friendly  support,  through  Philander 
C.  Knox,  his  Secretary  of  State.  The  critics  of  this 
policy  stigmatized  it  as  "  dollar  diplomacy,"  but 
Taft  and  Knox  defended  it  as  leading  these  repub 
lics  through  sound  finance  to  stable  government.  A 
protracted  revolution  in  Mexico  led  to  the  expulsion 
of  President  Porfirio  Diaz  in  1911,  and  was  followed 
by  counter-revolutions  in  1912.  Throughout  the  dis 
turbance  Taft  maintained  a  rigid  neutrality,  and  in 
duced  Congress  to  permit  him  to  prohibit  the  export 
of  arms  for  sale  to  the  belligerents.  This  constituted 
an  advance  upon  the  customary  practice  of  neutrals, 
who  are  permitted  under  international  law  to  sell 
munitions  of  war  to  either  belligerent. 

In  1908,  Roosevelt  had  signed  general  arbitra 
tion  treaties  with  Great  Britain  and  other  countries, 
containing  the  usual  reservations  of  cases  involving 


332  THE   NEW   NATION 

honor  or  national  existence.  In  1911,  Taft  signed 
yet  broader  treaties  with  Great  Britain  and  France, 
providing  for  the  arbitration  of  all  justiciable  dis 
putes,  and  for  a  commission  to  determine  whether 
disputed  cases  were  justiciable  or  not.  The  Senate 
declined  to  ratify  these  agreements. 

Canadian  reciprocity  was  a  part  of  Taft's  tariff 
program.  In  1911,  he  called  Congress  in  special 
session  to  approve  an  agreement  for  a  modification 
of  the  Payne- Aldrich  rates  with  Canada.  The  Demo 
cratic  majority  in  the  House  of  Representatives  sup 
ported  this  measure,  as  did  enough  of  the  regular 
Republicans  to  insure  its  passage.  But  the  Insur 
gents  opposed  it  as  likely  to  injure  the  interests  of 
the  farmer.  In  September,  1911,  Canada  rejected 
the  whole  measure  after  a  general  election  in  which 
a  fear  of  annexation  by  the  United  States  was  an 
important  motive. 

The  Taft  policies  failed  to  thrill  the  party  or  the 
people.  They  were  less  spectacular  than  the  evils 
which  the  muck-rakers  had  portrayed.  They  were 
constructive  and  detailed,  and  aroused  as  opponents 
many  who  had  joined  in  the  general  clamor  for  re 
form.  They  interested  the  party  leaders  little,  for 
these  were  more  concerned  with  their  own  personal 
fates,  and  were  not  overshadowed  by  the  President 
as  they  had  been  for  eight  preceding  years.  They 
were  all  conceived  in  the  spirit  of  a  lawyer  and  judge, 
and  were  passed  in  an  alliance  with  the  wing  of  the 
Republican  party  that  was  most  impervious  to  the 
new  reforms,  and  were  hence  open  to  the  attack  that 
they  were  in  spirit  and  intent  reactionary. 


NEW   NATIONALISM  333 

In  June,  1910,  with  the  Republican  schism  well 
advanced,  Theodore  Roosevelt  returned  to  the  United 
States.  A  few  weeks  later  he  made  a  speaking  trip 
in  the  West,  and  at  Osawatomie,  Kansas,  he  laid 
down  a  platform  of  reform  that  he  called  "New 
Nationalism."  This  was  in  substance  an  evolution 
from  the  history  of  forty  years.  It  assumed  the  fact 
of  the  development  of  business  and  society  along 
national  lines,  and  demanded  that  the  Government 
meet  the  new  problems.  It  believed  that  constitu 
tional  power  already  existed  for  most  of  the  needed 
functions  of  government,  and  demanded  that  where 
the  power  was  lacking  it  should  be  obtained  by  con 
stitutional  amendment.  The  platform  was  received 
with  equally  violent  commendation  and  attack. 
Many  Progressives  hailed  it  as  an  exposition  of 
their  faith.  Conservatives  were  prone  to  call  it  so 
cialistic  or  revolutionary.  It  restored  Roosevelt  to  a 
position  of  consequence  in  public  affairs,  and  empha 
sized  the  fact  that  Taft  had  developed  no  power  of 
popular  leadership  comparable  to  that  of  his  friend 
and  predecessor.  It  gave  the  Progressives  hope  that 
Roosevelt,  debarred  from  the  Presidency  by  his 
pledge  and  by  the  unwritten  third-term  tradition, 
would  aid  them  in  forcing  the  Republican  party  to 
nominate  a  Progressive  in  1912. 

The  concrete  principles  of  the  Progressive  group 
embraced  a  series  of  policies  looking  toward  the 
destruction  of  ring-controlled  politics.  They  de 
manded  and  generally  concurred  in  the  initiative 
and  referendum,  the  direct  primary,  and  the  direct 
election  of  delegates  to  national  conventions,  and 


334  THE   NEW  NATION 

the  direct  election  of  United  States  Senators.  Many 
of  them  believed  in  a  new  doctrine,  the  recall,  which 
was  to  be  applied  to  administrative  officials,  to 
judges,  and  even  to  judicial  decisions.  Woman  suf 
frage  was  commonly  acceptable  to  them. 

The  cause  of  woman  suffrage  had  made  great 
progress  since  Idaho  became,  in  1896,.  the  fourth 
suffrage  State.  A  modified  form  of  suffrage  in  local 
or  school  elections  had  been  allowed  in  many  States. 
A  new  period  of  agitation  for  unrestricted  woman 
suffrage  had  begun  in  England  about  1906,  and  had 
been  given  advertisement  by  the  deliberate  viola 
tions  of  law  and  order  by  the  militant  suffragettes. 
The  agitation,  though  not  the  excess,  had  spread  to 
the  United  States.  In  1910,  Washington,  and  in 
1911,  California,  had  become  woman  suffrage  States. 
By  1914,  the  total  was  raised  to  twelve  by  the  addi 
tion  of  Arizona,  Kansas,  Oregon,  Illinois,1  Nevada, 
and  Montana. 

In  the  winter  of  1911-12,  the  prospect  of  Repub 
lican  success  in  the  next  national  campaign  was 
slight.  The  Democrats  had  gained  the  House  in 
1910,  and  they,  with  the  aid  of  Progressive  Repub 
lican  votes,  had  passed  and  sent  up  to  the  President 
several  tariff  bills,  reducing  the  rates,  schedule  by 
schedule.  Every  one  of  these  had  been  vetoed,  each 
veto  tending  to  convince  the  Progressives  that  Taft 
was  conservative,  if  not  stand-pat  in  his  sentiments. 
The  Progressive  Republicans  were  pledged  to  work 
against  the  renomination  of  Taft,  and  were  unlikely 

1  In  Illinois  the  right  was  somewhat  restricted,  yet  included 
the  voting  for  presidential  electors  and  for  local  officials. 


NEW  NATIONALISM  335 

to  support  him  vigorously,  if  renominated.  Many 
regular  Kepublicans  believed  he  could  not  be  re- 
elected.  The  section  of  the  party  that  desired  a  Pro 
gressive  President  became  larger  than  the  group  that 
believed  in  LaFollette,  and  demands  that  Roosevelt 
return  were  heard  from  many  sources. 

In  February,  1912,  an  appeal  signed  by  seven 
Republican  governors,  all  of  whom  dwelt  in  States 
now  likely  to  go  Democratic,  urged  Roosevelt  to 
withdraw  his  pledge  and  become  a  candidate  for  the 
nomination.  The  demand  was  concurred  in  by  ad 
mirers  who  believed  that  only  he  could  bring  about 
the  new  nationalism,  by  Progressives  who  distrusted 
LaFollette's  capacity  to  win,  and  by  Republicans 
who  wanted  to  win  at  any  price  and  saw  only  defeat 
through  Taft.  On  February  24,  Roosevelt  an 
nounced  his  willingness  to  accept  the  nomination, 
explained  that  his  previous  refusal  to  accept  another 
term  had  meant  another  consecutive  term,  and  en 
tered  upon  a  canvass  for  delegates  to  the  Republi 
can  National  Convention. 

The  campaign  before  the  primaries  was  made  dif 
ficult  because  in  most  States  the  Republican  ma 
chinery  was  in  the  hands  of  politicians  who  disliked 
Roosevelt,  whether  they  cared  for  Taft  or  not.  It 
began  too  late  for  the  voters  to  overturn  the  state 
and  national  committees,  or  to  register  through  the 
existing  party  machinery  their  new  desire.  It  brought 
out  the  defects  in  methods  of  nomination  which  di 
rect  primaries  were  expected  to  remedy,  and  in  some 
States  public  opinion  was  strong  enough  to  compel 
a  hasty  passage  of  primary  laws  to  permit  the  over- 


336  THE   NEW  NATION 

turn  of  the  convention  system.  The  LaFollette  can 
didacy  was  deprived  of  most  of  its  supporters,  through 
the  superior  popularity  of  Roosevelt. 

When  the  convention  met  at  Chicago  on  June 
18,  1912,  there  were  some  411  Roosevelt  delegates 
among  the  1078,  and  more  than  250  more  who, 
though  instructed  for  Taf t,  were  contested  by  Roose 
velt  delegations.  When  the  national  committee  over 
ruled  the  claims  of  these,  Roosevelt  denounced  their 
action  as  "  naked  theft."  He  had  definitely  allied 
himself  with  the  wing  of  the  party  that  opposed  Taft. 
When  the  convention,  presided  over  by  Elihu  Root, 
and  supported  by  nearly  all  the  men  whom  Roosevelt 
had  brought  into  public  prominence,  finally  renomi- 
nated  Taft  and  Sherman,  Roosevelt  asserted  that  no 
honest  man  could  vote  for  a  ticket  based  upon  dis 
honor.  The  Roosevelt  Republicans  did  not  bolt  the 
convention,  but  when  it  adjourned  they  held  a  mass 
convention  of  their  own,  were  addressed  by  their 
candidate,  and  went  home  to  organize  a  new  Pro 
gressive  party. 

The  Democratic  counsels  were  affected  by  the 
break-up  of  the  Republican  party  and  the  success 
of  its  conservative  wing  at  Chicago.  They  met  at 
Baltimore  the  next  week,  with  Bryan  present  and 
active,  but  not  himself  a  candidate.  They  had  to 
choose  among  Clark,  the  Speaker,  Underwood,  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means, 
and  Governors  Harmon,  of  Ohio,  Marshall,  of  In 
diana,  and  Woodrow  Wilson,  of  New  Jersey. 

The  last  of  these  had  risen  into  national  politics 
since  1910.  He  had  long  been  known  as  a  brilliant 


NEW  NATIONALISM  337 

essayist  and  historian.  He  was  of  Virginian  birth, 
and  had  left  the  presidency  of  Princeton  University 
to  become  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor  of 
New  Jersey  in  1910.  He  had  shown  as  governor 
great  capacity  to  lead  his  party  in  the  direction  of 
the  progressive  reforms.  He  differed  in  these  less 
from  Roosevelt  and  LaFollette  than  he  or  they  did 
from  the  reactionaries  in  their  own  parties.  "  The 
President  is  at  liberty,  both  in  law  and  conscience," 
he  had  written  long  ago,  "  to  be  as  big  a  man  as  he 
can.  His  capacity  will  set  the  limit.  .  .  .  He  has  no 
means  of  compelling  Congress  except  through  pub 
lic  opinion."  Unembarrassed  by  previous  attachment 
to  any  faction  of  the  Democratic  party,  with  a  clear 
record  against  special  privilege  and  corporation  in 
fluence  in  politics,  and  supported  obstinately  by 
Bryan  and  the  young  men  who  had  urged  his  candi 
dacy,  Woodrow  Wilson  was  nominated  on  the  forty- 
sixth  ballot,  with  Governor  Thomas  Marshall  for 
Vice-President.  The  conservative  nomination  by  the 
Republicans  had  thrown  the  Democrats  into  the 
hands  of  their  radical  wing. 

The  Progressives  held  a  convention  in  Chicago  on 
August  5,  and  nominated  Theodore  Roosevelt  and 
Governor  Hiram  Johnson,  of  California.  Their  plat 
form  included  every  important  reform  seriously 
urged,  and  was  built  around  the  idea  of  social  jus 
tice  and  human  rights.  They  denied  that  either  of 
the  old  parties  was  fitted  to  carry  on  the  work  of 
progress.  In  the  campaign  their  candidates  and 
speakers  revealed  the  vigor  and  the  bitterness  of  the 
former  Insurgents. 


338  THE   NEW   NATION 

The  scliism  threw  the  election  into  the  hands  of 
the  Democrats,  who  retained  the  House,  gained  the 
Senate,  and  elected  Wilson,  though  the  latter  re 
ceived  fewer  votes  than  Bryan  had  received  in  each 
of  his  three  attempts.  The  struggle  was  one  of  per 
sonalities,  since  few  openly  attacked  the  avowed  aim 
of  progressive  legislation.  The  popularity  of  Roose 
velt  detached  many  Democratic  votes  from  Wilson, 
but  his  unpopularity  among  Republicans  who  feared 
him  and  Progressive  Republicans  who  resented  his 
return  to  politics,  drove  to  Wilson  votes  that  would 
otherwise  have  gone  to  Taft.  Taft  received  only  eight 
electoral  votes  in  November,  and  ran  far  behind  both 
his  rivals  in  the  popular  count.  More  than  four  mil 
lion  votes  were  polled  by  the  new  third  party  in  an 
independent  movement  that  was  without  precedent. 
The  Socialist  vote  for  Debs  rose  from  420,000  in 
1908  to  895,000  in  1912. 

The  last  year  of  the  administration  of  President 
Taft  was  overshadowed  by  the  party  war,  and  re 
duced  in  effectiveness  by  the  Democratic  control  of 
the  House.  The  prosecutions  of  the  trusts  were  con 
tinued,  a  parcel  post  was  established  as  a  postal 
savings  bank  had  been,  the  income  tax  amendment 
became  part  of  the  Constitution,  and  an  amendment 
for  the  direct  election  of  Senators  made  progress. 

Wrhen  Woodrow  Wilson  succeeded  to  the  Presi 
dency  he  formed  a  cabinet  headed  by  William  J. 
Bryan  as  Secretary  of  State,  and  including  only 
Democrats  of  progressive  antecedents.  Pie  called 
Congress  in  April,  1913,  to  revise  the  tariff  once 
more,  and  overturned  a  precedent  of  a  century  by 


NEW   NATIONALISM  339 

delivering  to  it  his  message  in  person.  With  almost 
no  breathing  space  for  eighteen  months,  he  kept 
Congress  at  its  task  of  fulfilling  his  party's  pledges 
as  he  interpreted  them. 

Tariff,  currency,  and  trust  control  were  the  main 
topics  upon  which  the  Democrats  had  avowed  posi 
tive  convictions,  and  upon  which  the  great  mass  of 
progressive  citizens,  regardless  of  party  affiliation, 
demanded  legislation.  One  by  one  these  were  taken 
up,  the  President  revealing  powers  of  coercive  lead 
ership  hitherto  unseen  in  his  office.  Only  the  fact 
that  non-partisan  opinion  was  generally  with  him 
made  possible  the  mass  of  constructive  legislation 
that  was  placed  upon  the  books.  The  tariff,  which 
became  a  law  on  October  3,  1913,  was  a  revision 
whose  downward  tendency  was  beyond  dispute.  The 
Federal  Reserve  Act,  revising  the  banking  laws  in 
the  interest  of  flexibility  and  decentralization,  was 
signed  on  December  23  of  the  same  year.  In  Janu 
ary,  1914,  President  Wilson  laid  before  Congress 
his  plan  of  trust  control,  advocating  a  commission 
with  powers  over  trade  coordinate  with  those  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and  an  elabora 
tion  of  the  anti-trust  laws  to  deal  with  unfair  prac 
tices  and  interlocking  directorates.  The  Federal 
Trade  Commission  and  Clayton  Anti-Trust  bills  ful 
filled  these  recommendations  in  the  autumn  of  1914. 
The  Panama  Canal  Act  of  1912  had  meanwhile 
been  revised  so  as  to  eliminate  a  preference  in  rates 
to  American  vessels  which  the  President  believed  to 
be  in  violation  of  the  guaranty  of  equal  treatment 
pledged  in  the  Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty.  With  a  more 


340  THE   NEW   NATION 

portentous  list  of  constructive  laws  than  had  been 
passed  by  any  Congress  since  1890,  the  Democratic 
majority  allowed  an  adjournment  on  October  24, 
1914,  and  its  members  went  home  to  sound  their 
constituents  upon  the  state  of  the  Union. 

The  passage  of  economic  laws  had  called  for  tact 
and  force  upon  the  part  of  the  President,  whose 
party,  like  the  Republican  party,  was  without  a  clear 
vision  of  its  policy  and  included  many  reactionaries. 
Added  embarrassments  were  found  in  the  continu 
ance  of  civil  strife  in  Mexico.  Here,  shortly  before 
the  inauguration  of  President  Wilson,  there  had 
been  another  revolution,  followed  by  the  elevation 
by  the  army  of  General  Victoriano  Huerta  to  the 
Presidency.  The  followers  of  the  deposed  Madero 
went  into  revolt  at  once,  and  the  new  Government 
was  refused  recognition  by  the  United  States  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  not  a  Government  de  facto,  and 
that  its  title  was  smirched  with  blood.  Patiently  and 
stubbornly  the  United  States  held  to  its  refusal  to 
recognize  the  results  of  conspiracy  in  Mexico,  n 
April,  1914,  Vera  Cruz  was  occupied  by  Americin 
forces  in  retaliation  for  acts  of  insult  on  the  part  of 
the  Huerta  regime,  and  in  July  the  steady  pressure 
of  "  watchful  waiting  "  brought  about  the  resigna 
tion  of  the  dictator.  The  Constitutionalists,  succeed 
ing  him,  quarreled  shortly  among  themselves,  but 
the  danger  from  Mexico  appeared  to  be  lessening  as 
the  year  advanced. 

From  Europe  came  other  embarrassments  in  Au 
gust.  Here,  the  policy  of  national  armament  which 
had  been  adopted  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 


NEW  NATIONALISM  341 

century,  reached  its  logical  outcome  in  a  great  war 
which  was  precipitated  by  Austria  in  an  attack  upon 
Servia.  Russia  immediately  came  to  the  aid  of  her 
Slavonic  kinsmen,  and  upon  her  Germany  declared 
war  on  August  1.  In  a  few  more  days  Great  Britain 
and  France  had  joined  Russia  against  the  German- 
Austrian  alliance,  and  most  of  Europe  was  at  war. 
To  bring  home  the  thousands  of  American  tourists 
whom  the  war  had  reduced  to  suffering  was  the  first 
work  of  the  administration.  The  American  ministers 
in  Europe  became  the  custodians  of  the  affairs  of 
the  belligerents  in  every  enemy  country,  and  with 
the  aid  of  all  the  belligerent  nations  Americans  were 
carried  home.  After  this  came  the  problems  of  neu 
trality  and  American  business.  Suffering,  due  to  the 
stoppage  of  the  export  trade,  particularly  that  of 
cotton,  brought  wide  depression  throughout  the 
United  States.  A  new  law  for  the  transfer  of  for 
eign-built  vessels  to  American  registry,  and  another 
for  federal  insurance  against  war  risks,  were  hur 
riedly  passed,  and  the  question  of  a  public-owned 
line  of  merchant  ships  was  discussed.  All  these 
problems  were  distracting  the  attention  of  the  United 
States  when  Congress  brought  to  an  end  its  pro 
longed  labors,  and  adjourned. 

The  congressional  election  of  1914  was  profoundly 
affected  by  the  European  war.  Early  in  the  year  it 
appeared  that  conservative  opposition  to  the  Demo 
cratic  program  was  growing,  and  that  the  Democratic 
majority  was  likely  to  be  cut  down.  The  Progressive 
party  appeared  to  be  weakening,  and  the  control  of 
the  Republican  party  was  settling  back  among  those 


342  THE  NEW   NATION 

Republicans  against  whom  the  Insurgents  had  made 
their  protest.  But  President  Wilson's  precise  neu 
trality  won  the  confidence  of  all  parties,  and  al 
though  conservatives  like  Cannon,  of  Illinois,  and 
Penrose,  of  Pennsylvania,  won  over  Democrats  and 
Progressives  alike  in  a  few  cases,  he  retained  for  the 
Sixty-fourth  Congress  a  working  majority  in  the 
House  and  an  enlarged  majority  in  the  Senate.  His 
election  in  1912  had  been,  in  part,  due  to  the  dis 
persion  of  Republican  strength  caused  by  the  Pro 
gressive  schism;  in  1914,  the  influence  of  the  Pro 
gressives  was  negligible  and  the  Democrats  retained 
their  power  in  the  face  of  the  whole  Republican  at 
tack. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Between  1909  and  1914,  the  Outlook,  to  which  Theodore 
Roosevelt  had  been  an  occasional  contributor,  and  which  had 
been  a  strong  supporter  of  Republican  policies  since  1898,  was 
the  regular  organ  through  which  Mr.  Roosevelt  addressed  the 
public,  over  his  signature  as  Contributing  Editor.  In  a  similar 
way  William  J.  Bryan  reached  his  followers  through  the  Com 
moner  (1900-),  and  Robert  M.  LaFollette  through  his  LaFol- 
lette's  Weekly  (1909-).  Collier's  Weekly  became  a  center  of  the 
adverse  criticism  of  President  Taft.  All  of  these,  as  well  as 
the  more  general  periodicals,  are  indispensable  sources  for  the 
period,  but  are  so  highly  partisan  as  to  need  constant  correc 
tion  for  prejudice.  The  election  of  1908  is  treated  in  Stan- 
wood's  History  of  the  Presidency  from  1897  to  1909,  while  that 
of  1912  is  excellently  described  in  the  New  International  Year 
Book  for  1912.  The  theories  of  the  new  nationalism  are  in 
T.  Roosevelt,  The  New  Nationalism  (1910). 


INDEX 


Adams,  Charles  Francis,  55,  56. 

Agricultural  colleges,  beginning 
of,  17. 

Agriculture,  changes  in,  14,  15; 
in  the  South  after  the  War, 
39,  40;  Department  of,  cre 
ated,  142,  157;  main  reliance 
of  Western  pioneers,  149,  151; 
discontent  in  North  and  West, 
178, 179,  184;  depression  of ,  in 
South,  195;  diversified  by  de 
cline  of  cotton  values,  204, 205. 

Aguinaldo,  Emilio,  267,  278. 

Alabama  Claims,  the,  55,  56. 

Alaska,  gold  mines  in,  241;  set 
tlement  of  boundary,  284,  285- 

Aldrich,  Nelson  W.,  118,  326. 

Algeciras,  United  States  in  con 
ference  at,  318. 

Alger,  Russell  A.,  253,  274. 

Allison,  William  B.,  89,  255. 

Altgeld,  Gov.  John  P.,  222,  279. 

Alverstone,  Lord  Chief  Justice, 
285,  286. 

Amendment,  the  Thirteenth, 
33,  42,  48. 

Amendment,  the  Fourteenth, 
42,  43,  48,  196,  197. 

Amendment,  the  Fifteenth,  46, 
47,  48,  196,  198. 

American  diplomacy,  286. 

American  Federation  of  Labor, 
121,  183,  208. 

American  Railroad  Union,  222. 

Ames,  Adelbert,  47, 

Angell,  James  B.,  60. 

Anti-Contract  Labor  Law,  135. 

Anti-imperialism,  278,  279. 

Anti-monopolists,  168,  169. 

Anti-trust  literature,  166. 

Arbitration,  255,  256;  treaties 
refused  by  Senate,  331,  332. 

Arizona,  a  Territory,  21,  152, 
154;  becomes  a  State,  330. 


Army  of  the  United  States,  at 
outbreak  of  Spanish  War,  266; 
in  poor  condition  during  the 
war,  269-72,  274;  later  ser 
vice  in  Cuba,  282. 

Arrears  of  Pension  Act,  137. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  removed 
from  office  by  Hayes,  87,  98, 
103;  Vice-President  with  Gar- 
field,  99;  opposes  Garfield, 
103;  as  President,  reorganizes 
his  Cabinet,  106,  109;  his  first 
message,  109,  110;  recom 
mends  civil  service  reform, 
113,  114;  approves  revision  of 
the  tariff,  114;  vetoes  River 
and  Harbor  Bill,  117,  127; 
hopes  for  re  nomination,  126; 
reasons  for  failure  of  his  candi 
dacy,  126,  127;  and  the  Pana 
ma  Canal,  144. 

Australian  ballot,  248. 

Ballinger,  Richard  A.,  328,  329. 

Ballot  reform,  248,  249. 

Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  134. 

Belknap,  William  W.,  62. 

Bellamy,  Edward,  167,  168, 188. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  21. 

Bimetallism,  226;  plea  for  in 
ternational,  227,  234. 

Black  Belt,  the,  202,  203. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  improper 
official  conduct  of,  62,  81;  the 
Mulligan  letters,  82;  and  the 
proposal  to  extend  pardon  to 
Jefferson  Davis,  83;  candi 
date  for  Presidential  nomina 
tion  (1880),  98;  his  personal 
following  large,  102;  Secre 
tary  of  State  under  Garfield, 
102,  103,  106;  plans  for  Pan- 
American  Congress,  106;  his 
large  following  among  Irish, 


11 


INDEX 


124, 133;  nominated  for  Presi 
dent  (1884),  127,  128;  and  the 
Mugwumps,  130;  caricatures 
of,  132;  defeated,  133;  replies 
to  Cleveland's  message  on 
tariff  reduction  (1887),  169; 
refuses  to  be  Presidential  can 
didate  again,  109;  Secretary 
of  State  under  Harrison,  171, 
172;  urges  reciprocity,  175; 
exchanges  views  with  Glad 
stone  on  protective  tariff,  189; 
in  the  seal  fisheries  contro 
versy,  212;  resigns  Secretary 
ship,  213;  death,  214. 

Blair,  Francis  P.,  Jr.,  31. 

Bland,  Richard  P.,  88,  89,  173, 
217. 

Bland- Allison  Bill,  181,  217,  218. 

"Bloody  shirt,"  the,  83,  100, 
201. 

Bonaparte,  Charles  J.,  320. 

"Boss,"  the,  245,  246;  power  of, 
247,  248. 

Boxer  outbreak  in  China,  281. 

Brady,  Thomas  J.,  104,  105. 

Bristow,  Benjamin,  81. 

Brown,  B.  Gratz,  56. 

Bryan,  William  Jennings,  nom 
inated  for  President,  237; 
wages  vigorous  campaign,  238; 
defeated,  240;  colonel  in 
Spanish  War,  266;  renomi- 
nated  for  President,  279;  de 
nounces  imperialism,  279; 
again  defeated,  280;  a  lay 
preacher  on  political  subjects, 
305;  nominated  for  Presi 
dency  third  time,  325;  made 
Secretary  of  State  by  Wilson, 
338. 

Bryce,  James,  his  American 
Commonwealth,  188,  189,  246; 
influence  of,  247;  ambassador 
from  Great  Britain,  318. 

Buckner,  Simon  B.,  238. 

Burchard,  Rev.  Samuel  D.,  133. 

Bureau  of  Corporations,  valua 
ble  reports  of,  311,  312. 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  advocates 


the  Greenback  movement,  30, 
66;  aims  at  Governorship  of 
Massachusetts,  61;  his  rela 
tion  to  the  "salary  grab,"  62; 
Anti-Monopoly  candidate  for 
Presidency,  131,  132. 

Canadian  reciprocity,  332. 

Cannon,  Joseph  G.,  defeated 
for  Congress,  185;  Speaker  of 
the  House,  304,  305;  a  stand- 
pat  protectionist,  327;  ruling 
as  Speaker  defeated,  329;  re 
turned  to  Congress,  342. 

Carlisle,  John  G.,  138,  139. 

Carnegie,  Andrew,  297. 

"Carpet-baggers,"  43,  45,  49, 
194. 

Centennial  Exposition,  at  Phil 
adelphia,  73. 

Cervera,  Admiral,  267,  268,  271, 
272. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  wishes  to  be 
President,  3,  4,  31,  56;  urges 
creation  of  bonded  debt  to 
provide  for  war  expenses,  5; 
inaugurates  a  system  of  na 
tional  banks,  27. 

Chile,  threatened  war  with,  212, 
213. 

Chinese,  coolies  imported  into 
California,  25;  and  Irish,  94; 
harried,  122. 

Chinese  Exclusion  Bill,  122, 127. 

Choate,  Joseph  H.,  318. 

Christian  Science,  rise  of,  190. 

Churchill,  Winston,  writes  Con' 
iston,  310,  311. 

Cities,  growth  of,  14;  in  the 
New  South,  205;  government 
of,  246. 

Civil  Rights  Bill,  196,  197. 

Civil  Service  Act,  113,  117. 

Civil  Service  reform,  86,  110; 
growth  of,  112,  113,  114; 
further  extended  by  Cleve 
land,  134,  235;  and  by  Taft, 
331. 

Civil  War,  the,  influence  of  its 
military  successes,  1;  benefits 


INDEX 


in 


of  the  four  years  of,  18;  new 
type  brought  into  politics  by, 
78;  veterans  of,  136. 

Clark,  Champ,  329,  330,  336. 

Clayton  Anti-trust  Bill,  339. 

Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  134, 
144;  inadequate,  286. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  Mayor  of 
Buffalo  and  Governor  of  New 
York,  130;  favored  by  the  In 
dependents,  130,  131;  nomi 
nated  for  Presidency,  131;  his 
character  attacked,  132;  elect 
ed  and  inaugurated,  133;  his 
Cabinet,  133;  Lowell's  tribute 
to,  134;  meets  new  problems, 
135;  vetoes  pension  bills,  137; 
troubled  by  divided  adminis 
tration,  138,  139,  140;  signs 
"omnibus"  bill  for  new 
States,  152;  his  emphasis  on 
tariff  reduction,  169;  renomi- 
nated,  170;  defeated  by  Harri 
son,  171;  again  nominated  for 
Presidency,  214,  215;  and 
elected,  215;  opposes  free 
silver  and  the  silver  basis,  219, 
229,  230;  loses  influence  with 
Western  Democrats,  220;  re 
fuses  to  sign  Wilson  Bill,  221; 
sends  federal  troops  to  Chi 
cago,  221,  222;  splits  Demo 
cratic  party,  223;  in  Vene 
zuela  boundary  dispute,  230, 
231;  abandoned  by  his  party, 
235;  dies  in  Princeton,  236; 
tries  to  maintain  neutrality 
in  Cuban  revolt,  261,  262. 

Cobden  Club,  and  British  gold, 
139. 

Coin's  Financial  School,  229. 

Colfax,  Schuyler,  Vice-President 
with  Grant,  37,  57,  61. 

Colorado,  Territory,  20;  be 
comes  a  State,  73,  74,  149. 

Commissioner  of  Labor,  122. 

Conkling,  Roscoe,  81,  87;  disci 
plined  by  Hayes,  98;  fights  for 
Grant,  99;  resigns  from  Sen 
ate,  103. 


Conservation  movement,  320, 
328. 

Consumers'  League,  the,  250. 

Cooke,  Jay,  his  connection  with 
panic  of  1873,  62,  63,  64. 

Cornell,  Alonzo  B.,  98,  103. 

Cortelyou,  George  B.,  302,  306. 

Cotton,  the  staple  crop  of  the 
Old  South,  149;  hundredth 
anniversary  of  first  export 
celebrated,  203;  overproduc 
tion,  204. 

Cowboys,  develop  a  folk-song 
literature,  150. 

Coxey,  Jacob  S.,  222. 

Credit  Mobilier,  scandal  of,  61. 

Cripple  Creek,  great  miners' 
strike  at,  301. 

Crisp,  Charles  F.,  186,  220. 

Cuba,  insurrections  in,  258;  re 
volutionary  government  in 
New  York,  260;  number  of 
Spanish  troops  in,  260;  fili 
bustering  parties,  261;  Con 
gress  favors  recognition  of 
belligerency,  262;  autonomy 
proposed,  263;  Congress  rec 
ognizes  independence  of,  264; 
blockaded,  267,  268;  freed 
from  Spain,  273;  sanitary  im 
provement  in,  282;  adopts  a 
constitution,  282;  makes  reci 
procity  treaty  with  United 
States,  283. 

Cullom,  Shelby  M.,  158,  221. 

Cummins,  Gov.  Albert  B.,  303; 
leader  of  Insurgent  Republi 
cans,  329. 

Curtis,  George  William,  leader 
in  civil-service  reform,  112, 
128;  a  Mugwump,  129. 

Custer,  Gen.  George  A.,  86. 

Czar  of  Russia,  calls  conference 
on  disarmament,  283. 

Dakota  Territory,  21 ;  made  into 

two  States,  152. 
Darwin,  Charles,  his  influence 

on  religious  thought,  190. 
Davenport,  Homer  C.,  252. 


IV 


INDEX 


Davis,  Judge  David,  109. 

Davis,  Henry  G.,  306. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  83,  106. 

Dawes  Act,  the,  awarding  lands 
to  Indians  in  severalty,  142, 
151,  319. 

Day,  William  R.,  253,  273. 

Debs,  Eugene  V.,  222;  Social 
Democratic  candidate  for 
President,  301,  338. 

De  Lesseps,  Ferdinand  M.,  144. 

DeLome,  Sefior,  criticizes  Mc- 
Kinley,  263,  264. 

Democratic  party,  the,  differ 
ences  in,  during  the  Civil  War, 
2,  3;  Chicago  convention 
(1864),  4,  5;  nominates  Sey 
mour  (1868),  31;  gains  control 
of  readmitted  Southern  States, 
52,  54;  nominates  Greeley 
(1872),  57;  weakened  by  its 
past,  79;  nominates  Tilden 
(1876),  80,  81;  gets  plurality 
of  popular  vote,  83;  gains  con 
trol  of  the  House  (1874),  87; 
nominates  Hancock  (1880), 
99;  gains  the  Senate  (1878), 
108;  loses  the  House  (1880), 
108;  regains  it  (1882),  117; 
elects  Cleveland  (1884),  130- 
33;  on  tariff  revision,  138, 
220,  221;  resists  demands  for 
statehood,  152;  casts  plural 
ity  of  votes  in  1888,  but  loses 
all  branches  of  government, 
171;  regains  the  House  (1890), 
186;  reelects  Cleveland  and 
wins  the  Senate  (1892),  215; 
split  by  free  silver  and  tariff 
questions,  228,  229,  232;  loses 
both  Senate  and  House  (1894), 
229;  nominates  Bryan  on 
free-silver  platform  (1896), 
237;  denounces  imperialism 
and  renominates  Bryan  (1900), 
279;  nominates  Parker  on 
conservative  platform  (1904), 
305,  306;  nominates  Bryan  for 
third  time  (1908),  325;  re 
gains  the  House  (1910),  329, 


330;    elects    Wilson    (1912), 

337,  338. 
Department  of  Agriculture,  142, 

157. 
Department  of  Commerce  and 

Labor,  122,  302. 
Dependent  Pension  Act,  174. 
Dewey,     Commodore     George, 

265;  destroys  Spanish  fleet  at 

Manila,  267. 
Diaz,    Porfirio,    expelled    from 

Mexico,  331. 

Dingley,  Nelson,  253,  254. 
Dingley  Bill,  the,  254,  255,  303, 

304. 

Dollar  diplomacy,  331. 
Donnelly,  Ignatius,  209. 
Dorsey,    Senator   Stephen   W., 

in  star  route  frauds,  104, 127. 
Du  Bois,  W.  E.  B.,  202. 

Eads,  James  B.,  206. 

Eaton,  Dorman  B.,  113. 

Edmunds,  George  F.,  99,  128. 

Education  Board,  General,  in 
corporated  by  Congress,  201. 

Educational  Board,  Southern, 
organized,  201. 

Egan,  Patrick,  Minister  to  Chile, 
212,  213. 

Eight-hour  day,  135,  136. 

Electoral  Commission,  the,  84. 

Eliot,  Charles  W.,  60. 

Elkins,  Stephen  B.,  127,  128. 

English,  William  H.,  99. 

Equitable  Life  Insurance  Com 
pany,  investigation  of,  312. 

Factories,  American,  growth  of, 
14,  15,  16;  influenced  by  in 
ventions,  95. 

Fairbanks,  Charles  W.,  Vice- 
President  with  Roosevelt,  305. 

Farmers,  condition  of,  in  North 
and  South,  contrasted,  178; 
discontent  keenest  in  West, 
179;  experimental,  180;  de 
mand  cheaper  money,  181; 
desire  cooperation,  182;  be 
lieve  charges  against  both  po- 


INDEX 


litical  parties,  185;  value  oi 
vote  of  dissatisfied,  193. 

Farmers'  Alliance,  the,  in  South 
and  West,  183,  184,  192,  193 
undermines  Republicans  in 
West,  185;  attempts  union 
with  Knights  of  Labor,  186, 
187;  splits  white  vote  in  the 
South,  192,  193,  196;  used  to 
express  Southern  discontent, 
195;  holds  national  conven 
tion  at  St.  Louis,  208;  merged 
in  People's  Party,  209. 

Farms,  American,  size  of,  40,  41, 
95;  increase  in  number,  149, 
150;  decrease  in  size  of  South 
ern,  194;  number  of,  194. 

Farragut,  Admiral  David  G.,  5. 

Fava,  Baron,  Italian  Minister 
at  Washington,  213. 

Federal  Reserve  Act,  339. 

Federal  Trade  Commission,  339. 

Field,  James  G.,  211. 

Fisk,  James,  Jr.,  60. 

Folger,  Charles  J.,  127. 

Folk,  Joseph  W.,  311. 

Force  Bill,  the,  200,  201. 

Ford,  Paul  Leicester,  The  Hon 
orable  Peter  Stirling,  132. 

Ford,  Worthington  C.,  254. 

Forestry  service,  328. 

Free  lands,  disappearance  of, 
marks  new  period,  154,  155. 

Free  passes,  on  interstate  rail 
roads,  forbidden  by  law,  313. 

Free  silver,  demanded  by  Popu 
lists,  209,  210;  agitation  for, 
226,  228;  textbook  of,  229; 
fight  for,  in  Republican  con 
vention  (1896),  234,  235;  de 
manded  by  Democratic  con 
vention,  236. 

Freedmen's  Bureau,  34,  201; 
work  of,  42,  43,  45. 

Frelinghuysen,  Frederick  T., 
106,  109,  134. 

Fremont,  John  C.,  candidate 
for  the  Presidency,  3,  4;  ar 
rested  in  France,  60;  charged 
with  land  frauds,  60,  61. 


"Frenzied  finance,"  310. 
Frick,  Henry  C.,  299. 
"Full  dinner  pail,  the,"  280. 

Gage,  Lyman  J.,  253. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  nominated 
for  Presidency  (1880),  99; 
forged  letters  against,  101, 
104,  105,  122;  sketch  of,  101; 
his  Cabinet,  102;  trouble  with 
Conkling,  103;  death  of,  105, 
108;  and  the  Panama  Canal, 
144. 

Garland,  Augustus  H.,  133. 

George,  Henry,  188. 

Georgia,  difficulties  with  Con 
gress,  47,  48. 

Gilman,  Daniel  Coit,  60. 

Gladden,  Washington,  310. 

Gladstone,  William  E.,  189. 

Godkin,  Edwin  L.,  editor  of  the 
Nation,  59,  67,  85;  and  civil 
service  reform,  112. 

Goethals,  Major  George  W., 
engineer  of  Canal  Zone,  317. 

Gold,  at  a  premium,  27;  hoarded, 
218;  great  increase  in  pro 
duction  of,  241. 

Gold  dollar,  ratio  to  silver,  9; 
value  in  greenbacks,  10,  29. 

Gorgas,  Col.  William  C.,  chief 
sanitary  officer  of  Canal  Zone, 
317. 
ould,  Jay,  60,  294. 

urrand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
used  for  procuring  pensions, 
136,  137. 

Grandfather  clause,  the,  200. 

Granger  Laws,  the,  68,  70,  157; 
constitutionality  of,  71,  72. 
ranger  movement,  the,  67,  68, 
183;  relations  with  the  panic 
of  1873,  72;  doctrine  estab 
lished  by,  157. 

rant,  Ulysses  S.,  the  coveted 
candidate  of  both  parties,  36; 
general  rejoicing  in  his  elec 
tion,  37;  inaugurated  in  1869, 
46;  his  first  term  ends  un 
satisfactorily,  55;  success  with 


VI 


INDEX 


the  Alabama  claims,  55,  56; 
renominated,  57;  various  un 
savory  episodes  of  his  years 
as  President,  60,  62;  vetoes 
the  Inflation  Bill,  66;  reelec 
tion  of  (1872),  75;  receives 
scanty  support  for  a  third 
term,  81,  98,  99;  and  civil 
service  reform,  112. 

Greeley,  Horace,  nominated  for 
President  by  Liberal  Repub 
licans,  56;  a  quaint  political 
figure,  57;  quoted,  89. 

Greenback  movement,  the,  ad 
vocates  of,  30,  65,  66;  Eastern 
opinion  of,  contrasted  with 
Western,  68;  and  silver  infla 
tion,  88,  180,  181. 

Greenbacks,  9;  value  of,  10; 
depreciation  of,  27;  with 
drawal  of,  28;  further  retire 
ment  of,  forbidden  by  law, 
30;  rising  in  value,  65;  issued 
during  panic  of  1873,  66. 

Guam,  ceded  to  United  States, 
273. 

Guiteau,  William  B.,  105. 

Hadley,  Pres.  Arthur  T.,  310. 

Hague,  the,  court  of  arbitration 
at,  283;  Venezuelan  claims 
referred  to,  284;  second  con 
ference,  318. 

Hancock,  Gen.  Winfield  Scott, 
80,  99,  100,  101. 

Hanna,  Marcus  Alonzo,  raises 
funds  for  Republicans,  102, 
233,  238,  239;  appointed  Sen 
ator,  252;  helps  settle  coal 
strike,  300,  302;  grows  in  pop 
ularity,  302,  303;  death,  304. 

Harmon,  Gov.  Judson,  336. 

Harriman,  Edward  H.,  294,  295. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  nominated 
for  Presidency,  169;  elected 
as  a  minority  President,  171, 
211;  friction  with  Chile,  212, 
,  213;  renominated,  214;  de 
feated,  215,  216. 

Hawaiian  Islands,  273,  274,  278. 


Hay,  John,  on  McKinley,  251; 
Secretary  of  State,  273,  282 ; 
career  of,  281. 

Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty,  for 
Isthmian  canal,  286,  287. 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B.,  receives 
nomination  for  President,  82; 
difficulties  of  his  election,  83, 
84;  alienates  many  Republi 
cans  by  his  attitude  toward 
the  South,  85;  his  troubles 
with  Democratic  congress,  87; 
removes  Chester  A.  Arthur 
from  ofiice,  87,  98,  103;  finan 
cial  policy  of  his  administra 
tion,  89,  90;  a  new  period  of 
growth  begun  during  his  term 
of  office,  90,  92;  end  of  his 
term,  97,  102;  and  the  Pan 
ama  Canal,  144;  becomes 
head  of  Slater  fund,  201. 

Hearst,  William  R.,  305,  312. 

Hendricks,  Thomas  A.,  candi 
date  for  Vice-President,  80, 
81,  131. 

Hepburn  Railway  Bill,  the,  315. 

Hill,  Gov.  David  B.,  214,  215, 
248. 

Hill,  James  J.,  295,  296. 

Hobart,  Garrett  P.,  Vice-Presi 
dent  with  McKinley,  234; 
dies  in  office,  280. 

Homestead  Act,  the,  21,  155. 

Hopkins,  Johns,  60. 

Howells,  William  Dean,  188. 

Huerta,  Victoriano,  President 
of  Mexico,  340. 

Hughes,  Charles  E.,  exposes 
wrongdoing  of  insurance  com 
panies,  312;  mentioned  for 
Presidency,  324. 

Hull  House,  251. 

Humphreys,  Benjamin  G.,  46. 

Husbandry,  Patrons  of,  193. 

Idaho,  becomes  a  Territory,  21; 

admitted  to  the  Union,  152. 
Immigration     movement,  ^the, 

influences  of,  123,  124. 
Income  tax,  221,  327,  338. 


INDEX 


Vll 


Indians,  removal  of,  22,  25;  out 
breaks  of,  25,  86;  Dawes  Bill, 
142,  151,  319. 

Industrial  Commission,  298. 

Industrial  consolidation,  evolves 
new  type  of  trust,  297,  299. 

Industrial  revival,  after  1897, 
293,  294. 

Industrial  revolution,  effects  of, 
95. 

Inflation  Bill,  the,  66. 

Ingersoll,  Robert  G.,  quoted,  92. 

Initiative  and  referendum,  249, 
250. 

Interstate  Commerce  Act,  the, 
142,  158, 159;  commission  cre 
ated,  159,  160;  influence  of 
rebate  system  on,  165;  had 
little  immediate  effect,  180; 
an  imperfect  statute,  314; 
strengthened  by  Congress, 
315,  330. 

Irons,  Martin,  135. 

Irrigation,  142,  291. 

Italians,  lynched  in  New  Or 
leans,  213. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  8,  111. 

James,  Thomas  L.,  102, 103, 104. 

Japan,  at  war  with  Russia,  317. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  candidate  for 
the  Vice-Presidency,  4;  be 
comes  President  upon  death 
of  Lincoln,  32;  opposition  of 
Congress  to,  33, 34;  impeached 
by  House,  35;  acquitted,  36; 
vetoes  arbitrary  acts  of  Con 
gress,  48. 

Johnson,  Gov.  Hiram,  337. 

Johnson,  Reverdy,  55. 

Journalism,  expansion  of,  162; 
reorganized  in  the  later  nine 
ties,  311. 

Kansas  City,  important  as  meet 
ing  place  of  railways,  150, 151. 
Kearney,  Dennis,  94,  124. 
Keifer,  J.  Warren,  108. 
Kelly,  John,  131. 
Kerr,  Michael  C.,  108. 


Kipling,  Rudyard,  The  White 
Mans  Burden,  274. 

Knickerbocker  Trust  Company, 
suspension  of,  322. 

Knights  of  Labor,  secret  society 
in  the  East,  94;  meet  with 
disfavor,  121;  demands  of, 
122;  fight  the  Gould  railways, 
135;  success  of,  183;  union 
with  Farmers'  Alliance,  186, 
187;  in  Pullman  strike,  222. 

Knox,  Philander  C.,  296,  320, 
331. 

Ku-Klux  Klan,  the,  52. 

Labor,  tariff  supposed  to  pro 
tect,  119;  Commissioner  of, 
122;  Bureau  of,  135;  danger 
from  European  pauper,  139; 
becomes  better  united,  299. 
See  also  Knights  of  Labor, 
Strikes. 

La  Follette,  Robert  M.,  de 
feated  for  Congress,  185; 
works  out  a  system  of  prima 
ries,  249;  in  the  Senate  debate 
on  railroads,  315;  leader  of 
Insurgent  Republicans,  329; 
possible  Presidential  candi 
date,  330,  335,  336. 

Lamar,  L.  Q.  C.,  133. 

Land  grants,  to  railroads,  22, 
24,  148,  156;  discontinued, 
143. 

Land  laws,  difficulty  in  enforc 
ing,  155,  156. 

Lawson,  Thomas  W.,  310. 

Lawton,  Gen.  Henry  W.,  271. 

Liberal  Republicans,  secede  in 
1872  and  nominate  Greeley 
and  Brown,  56;  platform  of, 
56,  57;  in  Garfield's  adminis 
tration,  102;  favor  civil  ser 
vice  reform  and  tariff  revision, 
112,  116,  126;  put  Edmunds 
forward  for  Presidential  can 
didate  (1884),  128. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  his  view  in 
regard  to  the  spoils  system, 
2;  aims  to  develop  a  Union 


Vlll 


INDEX 


sentiment,  2,  3;  aided  by  ex 
cesses  of  Democrats,  4,  5;  his 
use  of  offices,  111,  112. 

Literature  in  United  States,  187, 
188;  periodical,  189,  190;  reli 
gious,  190. 

Lloyd,  Henry  D.,  116,  166,  167. 

Lodge,  Henry  Cabot,  as  an 
independent,  128;  supports 
Elaine,  130;  approves  the 
Force  Bill,  200,  201. 

Logan,  John  A.,  128. 

Lorimer,  William,  330. 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  quoted, 
54,  59;  on  Cleveland,  134. 

McClellan,  Gen.  George  B.,  3,  5. 

McClure,  S.  S.,  311. 

McCulloch,  Hugh,  28,  29. 

McEnery,  Samuel  D.,  254. 

McKinley,  William,  his  Tariff 
Bill,  172,  173,  174,  175;  ac 
cepts  principle  of  reciprocity, 
175;  defeated  for  Congress, 
185;  Governor  of  Ohio,  214; 
"advance  agent  of  prosper 
ity,"  232,  241;  a  tactful  Con 
gressman,  233;  nominated  for 
President  (1896),  234;  makes 
no  personal  campaign,  239; 
elected,  240;  his  election  a 
victory  for  sound  money,  241 ; 
calls  special  session  of  Con 
gress  for  new  tariff,  242;  in 
augurated  as  President,  251; 
his  theory  of  the  office,  252; 
action  in  the  Cuban  matter, 
262,  264;  reflected  President, 
280;  murdered,  282. 

McKinley  Bill,  the,  173,  174, 
215,  216;  sugar  clause  a  nota 
ble  feature  of,  175;  opposition 
to,  184. 

MacVeagh,  Wayne,  102. 

Machinery,  influence  of,  15,  16, 
95. 

Mahone,  William,  109. 

Maine,  the,  blown  up  in  Havana 
harbor,  264. 

Marshall,    Thomas    R.,    nomi 


nated  by  Democrats  for  Vice- 
Presidency,  337. 

Merritt,  Gen.  Wesley,  267. 

Mexico,  revolutions  in,  331,  340. 

Miles,  Gen.  Nelson  A.,  on  the 
results  of  drought,  182;  com 
mander  of  army  in  Spanish 
War,  269;  invades  Porto  Rico, 
272. 

Mills,  Roger  Q.,  tariff  leader, 
139. 

Mills  Bill,  the,  139, 140, 169, 170. 

Mining  camps,  rapid  develop 
ment  of,  20,  21,  22. 

Mississippi,  the  process  of  re 
construction  in,  46,  47;  dis 
qualifies  negroes,  198,  199. 

Mississippi  River  Commission, 
206. 

Mitchell,  John,  300. 

"Molly  Maguires,"  94,  121. 

Monroe  Doctrine,  in  Venezuela 
case,  230,  231,  284. 

Montana,  created  a  Territory, 
21;  becomes  a  State,  152. 

Morgan,  J.  Pierpont,  295,  321. 

Mormons,  20;  make  a  prosper 
ous  Territory  in  Utah,  154. 

Morton,  Levi  P.,  Vice-President 
with  Harrison,  169. 

Morton,  Oliver  P.,  war  Gover 
nor  of  Indiana,  81. 

Muck-raking,  315,  316. 

Mugwumps,  129, 130. 

Mulligan  letters,  the,  82. 

Murchison  letter,  the,  170,  171. 

Nast,  Thomas,  cartoonist,  50, 

57,  86,  132. 

National  Labor  Union,  208. 
National  Planters'  Association, 

203. 
Navy,  of  the  United  States,  at 

outbreak    of    Spanish    War, 

265;    sent    round   the   world 

without  mishap,  319. 
Negro,  the,  would  not  work  at 

close  of  war,  40;  a  social  and 

economic    problem,    41,    42; 

made  a  voter  by  Congress,  43, 


INDEX 


IX 


45,  48;  elimination  of  con 
trol  by,  51,  52,  54;  a  factor  in 
Republican  national  con 
vention,  98,  99;  becomes  a 
farm  owner,  194;  suppressec 
outside  the  law,  196;  bac 
qualities  of,  198;  practically 
disfranchised  in  South,  199 
200;  advances  in  literacy,  202 
distribution  of,  202,  203 
Roosevelt's  attitude  toward, 
289,  290. 

Newlands  Reclamation  Act,  291 

New  Mexico,  152,  154;  becomes 
a  State,  330. 

New  South,  the,  has  but  one 
political  party  of  consequence, 
192;  dissatisfied  farmer  vote 
in,  193;  disintegration  of  plan 
tations,  194;  oppressed  by 
its  agricultural  system,  195; 
practically  disfranchises  ne 
groes,  196-200;  education  in, 
201,  202;  border  traits  of,  202; 
a  modern  industrial  commu 
nity,  203;  development  of 
cities,  205. 

Nez  Perces,  outbreak  of,  86. 

Nicaragua  Canal,  134,  286. 

North,  S.  N.  D.,  and  the  Ding- 
ley  Bill,  254. 

North  Dakota,  admitted  to 
Union,  152. 

Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  143, 
295;  and  panic  of  1873,  63,  65; 
finished  under  direction  of 
Henry  Villard,  144. 

Northern  Securities  Company, 
296,  299. 

Oklahoma,  Indians  colonized  in, 
151;  opened  to  white  settlers, 
151;  becomes  a  State,  319. 

Olney,  Richard,  230,  231. 

Oregon,  the,  spectacular  voyage 
of,  274,  286. 

Overproduction,  menace  of,  96. 

Palmer,  John  M.,  238. 
Panama,  Republic  of,  288. 


Panama  Canal,  begun  by  De 
Lesseps,  144,  286;  determined 
on  by  Congress  and  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt,  287,  288; 
Panama  grants  concession, 
289;  first  boats  pass  through, 
289;  dispute  over  sea-level 
and  lock  systems,  316-17. 
Pan- American  Conference  at 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  318. 
Pan-American    Congress,    106, 

109. 

Panic  of  1857,  the,  6,  7,  9, 11, 12. 
Panic  of  1873,  the,  62-74;  Jay 
Cooke's  connection  with,  62- 
65;  real  causes  of,  64,  65;  re 
duces    revenues,    115;    often 
attributed    to    low    rates    of 
Wilson  Bill,  254. 
Parker,  Judge  Alton  B.,  Demo 
cratic  candidate  for  President 
(1904),  305;  defeated,  306. 
Payne,  Sereno  E.,  326. 
Peabody,  George,  creates  fund 
to  relieve  negro  illiteracy,  201. 
Pendleton,  George  H.,  30,  31. 
Penrose,  Boies,  253,  342. 
Pension  Bureau,   137;   import 
ant  through  alliance  with  the 
soldiers,  172. 

Pensions,  influence  of  soldier 
vote  on,  136;  for  service  only, 
137;  amounts  spent  on,  137, 
138;  system  criticized  by 
Southern  farmers,  178;  used 
millions  of  the  national  sur 
plus,  216. 

People's  Party,  184;  to  right  all 
wrongs  of  the  plain  people, 
186,  187;  becomes  a  finished 
organization,    208,    209;    de 
mands  of,  210. 
Petroleum  trust,  164,  165. 
Philippine    Islands,    ceded    to 
United  States,  273;  revolt  in, 
under  Aguinaldo,  278. 
3ierpont,  Francis  A.,  47. 
Pike,  James  S.,  author  of  The 

Prostrate  State,  51. 
Pinchot,  Gifford,  328. 


INDEX 


Pious  Fund  dispute,  the,  283. 

Platt,  Thomas  C.,  resigns  from 
Senate,  103;  claims  promise 
of  Secretaryship  under  Har 
rison,  172;  offended  by  Har 
rison,  213;  Senator  from  New 
York,  253;  opposes  nomina 
tion  of  Roosevelt  for  governor, 
277;  aids  Roosevelt  boom  for 
Vice-Presidency,  280. 

Polygamy,  in  Utah,  154. 

Populism,  origin  of,  208. 

Populists,  demands  of,  210; 
carry  four  States  in  Presiden 
tial  election  (1892),  216;  cari 
catures  of,  223;  fuse  with 
Democrats,  237,  238;  favor 
direct  legislation,  249,  250. 

Porto  Rico,  invaded  by  United 
States  troops,  272;  ceded  to 
United  States,  273;  Territori 
al  government  provided,  278. 

Post-office,  the,  corruption  in, 
103,  104,  105,  113,  114. 

Potter,  Bishop  Henry  C.,  246. 

Powderly,  Terence  V.,  121,  122, 
135. 

Practical  politics,  110. 

Preemption  Law,  the,  21,  155, 
156. 

Presidential  Succession  Act,  105. 

Primaries,  direct,  249,  335. 

Progressive  Republicans,  re 
volt,  329;  organize  a  League, 
330;  principles  of,  333;  op 
pose  renomination  of  Taft, 
334;  urge  Roosevelt  to  run, 
335 ;  organize  Progressive 
Party,  336;  nominate  Roose 
velt  and  Johnson,  337;  popu 
lar  vote  of,  338;  influence 
negligible  in  1914,  342. 

Protection,  in  Republican  plat 
form  (1888),  170,  171;  ear 
nestly  discussed  by  both 
parties,  170;  enlarged  by 
McKinley  Bill,  174,  176;  of 
unborn  industries,  175; 
strongest  in  East,  177;  ram 
pant  spirit  for,  in  1897,  254. 


Pure  food  movement,  313,  314, 
328. 

Quay,  Matthew  S.,  chairman 
of  Harrison  campaign  com 
mittee,  170,  171,  174;  of 
fended  by  Harrison,  213; 
completes  partnership  of  man 
ufacturers  and  voters,  232; 
selects  Penrose  for  Senator, 
253. 

Railroads,  development  of,  10, 
12,  68,  69,  92,  93;  importance 
of,  16,  69;  land  grants  to,  22, 
24, 148;  continental,  22,  25,  26, 
143,  144,  145;  hostility  of  the 
Grange,  68,  70;  rate  laws,  71, 
72;  agree  upon  standard  time, 
148;  encourage  immigration 
and  colonization,  148,  149; 
regarded  as  quasi-public,  157, 
159;  national  control  of,  158; 
bargaining  in  rates,  165;  and 
the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law, 
173;  promote  new  settle 
ments,  179;  in  the  South  after 
the  Civil  War,  204;  controlled 
by  a  few  men,  294. 

Rainfall,  importance  of,  150, 
179,  180,  182,  186. 

Randall,  Samuel  J.,  108,  138. 

Rebates,  railroad,  forbidden  by 
Elkins  Law,  296. 

Reciprocity,  favorite  scheme  of 
Blaine,  175. 

Reclamation  of  arid  lands  of 
the  Southwest,  290,  291,  320. 

Reconstruction,  an  inappropri 
ate  name  for  what  took  place, 
39;  no  constitutional  theory 
adequate  to  meet  problems  of, 
44;  must  be  judged  by  results, 
44,  45;  completion  of,  in  form 
al  sense,  46;  not  far  advanced 
by  1870,  49;  dominant  type  of 
leaders,  78;  political  super 
seded  by  constitutional,  85. 

Reconstruction  Acts  of  1867, 
the,  43,  45,  47. 


INDEX 


XI 


Reconstruction  Governments, 
evils  of,  50,  51,  61. 

Reed,  Thomas  B.,  172,  229, 
240. 

Referendum  and  initiative,  249, 
250,  333,  334. 

Regan,  John  H.,  193. 

Reid,  Whitelaw,  56,  130. 

Republican  party,  the,  during 
the  Civil  War,  1,  2;  called  it 
self  Union,  4,  32;  paid  for  its 
disguise,  32;  in  the  South 
after  1876,  54;  new  men  in 
control,  78,  79;  regains  con 
trol  of  the  House  (1880),  108; 
but  loses  it  again  (1882),  117; 
dissensions  in,  128;  defeated 
in  1884,  133;  elects  President 
and  majority  in  both  houses 
in  1888,  171;  suffers  a  land 
slide  (1890),  185,  186;  regains 
control  of  Senate  and  House, 
(1894),  229;  platform  in  1896, 
234;  dominates  every  branch 
of  National  Government  for 
fourteen  years,  244;  the  party 
of  organized  business,  252; 
approves  the  Spanish  War, 
279;  elects  Taft  President 
(1908),  324,  325;  revises  tariff, 

826,  327;   dissatisfaction  in, 

827,  328;  loses    the    House 
(1910),  329;  renominates  Taft 
(1912),  336. 

Revels,  Hiram  R.,  negro  Sena 
tor  from  Mississippi,  47. 

River  and  Harbor  Bill,  117. 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  gains 
chief  control  of  petroleum 
traffic,  165,  166;  aids  cause  of 
education  in  South,  201; 
methods  of,  310,  321. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  128;  steps 
out  of  Blaine  campaign,  130; 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  265,  277;  raises  a  regi 
ment  for  Spanish  War,  266;  in 
Cuba,  270;  early  public  career 
of,  276;  Governor  of  New 
York,  277;  a  reformer  of  a 


new  type,  277;  Vice-President 
with  McKinley,  280;  succeeds 
to  Presidency,  282;  and  the 
Hague  Court,  283,  284;  ac 
tivity  in  securing  Panama 
Canal,  286,  288;  questionable 
course  toward  Colombia,  286, 
288;  attitude  toward  negroes, 
289,  290;  widely  popular,  291; 
disliked  by  professional  poli 
ticians,  291;  dissolves  North 
ern  Securities  Company,  296, 
299;  settles  coal  strike,  800; 
alienates  party  leaders,  302; 
wants  nomination  on  his  own 
account,  303;  tries  to  modify 
Dingley  Tariff,  304;  nomi 
nated  for  President,  305;  and 
elected,  306;  declares  he  will 
not  accept  another  nomina 
tion,  307;  goes  outside  of 
United  States  territory,  816- 
17;  receives  the  Nobel  prize, 
317;  promotes  second  Hague 
Conference,  318;  sends  navy 
round  the  world,  319;  holds 
conference  of  state  governors 
at  White  House,  320;  called 
"Theodore  the  Meddler," 
322;  his  policies  those  of  the 
people,  323;  secures  nomina 
tion  of  Taft  for  Presidency, 
324,  325;  goes  to  Africa,  329; 
formulates  New  Nationalism, 
333;  defeated  in  Republican 
convention,  336;  nominated  by 
Progressives,  337. 

Root,  Elihu,  becomes  Secretary 
of  War,  274,  281;  Secretary 
of  State,  318;  mentioned  for 
Presidency,  324;  presides  over 
Chicago  convention,  336. 

Rough  Riders,  the,  266, 270, 277. 

"Rum,  Romanism,  and  rebel 
lion,"  133. 

Rusk,  Jeremiah  M.,  136,  157. 

Russia,  at  war  with  Japan,  317. 

Sackville-West,  Sir  Lionel,  170. 
Salary  grab,  in  Congress,  62. 


Xll 


INDEX 


Salisbury,  Lord,  in  Venezuela 
case,  230,  231. 

Sampson,  Capt.  William  T.,  in 
blockade  of  Cuba,  265,  268 
269,  270,  272. 

Schenck,  Robert  C.,  55,  61. 

Schley,  Commodore  Winfield 
Scott,  in  blockade  of  Cuba, 
265,  268,  269,  272. 

Schurz,  Carl,  leader  of  the  Lib 
eral  Republicans,  56;  intro 
duces  merit  system,  86;  reor 
ganizes  the  Indian  service,  86, 
87;  supports  civil  service  re 
form,  112,  113;  an  anti- 
imperialist,  278. 

Seal  fisheries,  212. 

Sewall,  Arthur,  237. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  4;  nominated 
for  Presidency,  31;  loyalty 
above  question,  79. 

Shatter,  Gen.  William  R.,  269, 
270. 

Sherman,  James  S.,  nominated 
for  Vice-Presidency,  325,  336. 

Sherman,  John,  Senator  from 
Ohio,  66;  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  89;  proposed  for  the 
Presidency,  98,  99,  128;  Sec 
retary  of  State,  253. 

Sherman,  Gen.  William  T.,  5. 

Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law,  the, 
enacted,  172,  173,  293;  en 
forced  under  Roosevelt,  320, 
321. 

Sherman  Silver  Purchase  Bill, 
174,  218,  219,  220. 

Silver,  fall  in  value  of,  88,  228; 
free  coinage  demanded,  181, 
182;  mines,  output  of,   181; 
coinage  of,  217;  demonetiza 
tion  of,  called  a  crime,  225. 
Sinclair,  Upton,  311. 
Slater,  John  F.,  creates  fund  for 

education  of  negro,  201. 
Social  Democratic  party,  301. 
Socialist  Labor  party,  301,  338. 
South,  the,  before  the  war,  11, 
12;  price  of  its  attempt  at  in 
dependence,  39;  stubbornness 


of,  40;  decrease  in  size  of 
farms,  40,  41;  government  of, 
by  army,  42;  divided  into  five 
military  districts,  43;  new 
constitutions  of  its  States,  46; 
readmission  to  Union,  47,  49; 
repudiation  of  debts,  51; 
normal  politics  Democratic, 
52,  54,  79.  See  also  New 
South. 

South  Dakota,  admitted  to 
Union,  152;  first  State  to 
adopt  initiative  and  refer 
endum,  250. 

Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  145, 
148;  passes  into  control  of 
Union  Pacific,  294,  295; 
merger  dissolved,  330. 
Spain,  sends  Gen.  Weyler  to 
Cuba,  260;  embittered  against 
United  States  by  filibustering 
parties,  261;  changes  of  Min 
istry  in,  262;  declines  media 
tion,  but  recalls  Gen.  Weyler, 
263;  establishes  a  sort  of  au 
tonomy  for  Cuba,  263;  war 
with  United  States  begun, 
264;  loses  fleet  at  Manila, 
267;  and  another  at  Santiago, 
272;  army  at  Santiago  sur 
renders,  272;  loses  Cuba, 
Porto  Rico,  the  Philippine 
Islands,  and  Guam,  273. 

Squatters,  21,  155. 

Stalwarts,  the,  support  Conk- 
ling  against  Garfield,  103; 
claimed  as  friends  by  Guiteau, 
105;  relations  with  Arthur, 
109,  126. 

Standard  Oil  Company,  the, 
166,  167;  suit  against,  brought 
by  Ohio,  168;  history  of,  310; 
charges  of  extorting  rebates, 
311,  312;  dissolved,  330,  331. 

Standard  time,  adopted  by 
American  railroads,  148. 

Stanford,  Leland,  25. 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  3,  35. 

Star  route  frauds,  103,  104,  105, 
113. 


INDEX 


Xlll 


Steel  industry,  the,  16,  297,  298. 

Steffens,  Lincoln,  310. 

Stevens,  Thaddeus,  30,  34. 

Stevenson,  Adlai  E.,  Vice-Pres 
ident  with  Cleveland,  215; 
nominated  with  Bryan,  279. 

Strathcona,  Lord,  interested  in 
Canadian  railways,  148. 

Strikes,  121;  Pullman,  222;  at 
Cripple  Creek,  222,  301;  at 
Homestead,  299;  in  Pennsyl 
vania  coal  fields,  299,  300. 

Sumner,  Charles,  34,  55. 

Surplus,  embarrassing,  93,  173; 
an  incentive  to  extravagance, 
116,  136,  138;  easily  relieved, 
174;  nearly  exhausted,  216. 

Taft,  William  H.,  decision  as 
Circuit  Judge  against  an  in 
dustrial  combination,  299;  re 
called  from  Philippines  to  be 
Secretary  of  War,  317; 
Roosevelt's  choice  for  Presi 
dency,  324;  nominated  and 
elected  (1908),  325;  urges 
tariff  revision,  326,  327;  alien 
ates  some  of  the  Republican 
leaders,  327,  328;  in  the  Pin- 
chot-Ballinger  dispute,  328, 
329;  pushes  anti-trust  suits, 
330,  331;  extends  civil  ser 
vice,  331;  negotiates  arbitra 
tion  treaties  with  Great  Bri 
tain  and  France,  331,  332;  re- 
nominated  (1912),  336;  badly 
defeated,  338. 

Tanner,  James  ("Corporal"), 
172. 

Tarbell,  Ida  M.,  writes  history 
of  Standard  Oil  Company, 
309,  310. 

Tariff,  the  favorite  national  tax, 
6,  7;  basis  of  the  rate  of ,  7;  at 
the  end  of  the  war,  8;  differ 
ent  views  of,  97;  influence  of, 
in  Presidential  campaigns, 
100^  revision  of,  114,  116,  117; 
as  a  source  of  revenue,  114, 
115;  attacks  upon,  115,  116; 


commission  created  to  investi 
gate  needs  of,  117,  118;  diffi 
culties  of  constructing,  118, 
119,  140;  revision  demanded, 
169;  McKinley  Bill,  172-75; 
opposition  to  the  new  law, 
184;  a  factor  in  political  land 
slide  of  1890,  186;  McKinley 
Bill  in  danger,  215;  tariff  for 
revenue  the  winning  issue  in 
1890  and  1892,  220;  financial 
interest  of  manufacturers  in, 
233;  the  Dingley  Bill,  253, 
254,  255;  the  "mother  of 
trusts,"  303;  revised  by  Re 
publicans,  326,  327;  reduced 
by  Democrats,  339. 

Taxes,  as  means  of  raising 
money,  6,  114,  115;  author 
ized  more  reluctantly  than 
loans,  6;  often  revised  and 
increased,  7;  difficulties  of 
Congress  with,  115. 

Taylor,  Hannis,  262. 

Tennessee,  readmitted  to  the 
Union,  45 ;  escapes  negro  dom 
ination,  54. 

Tenure-of-Offjce  Act,  34,  35. 

Texas,  readmitted  to  Union,  47; 
thorough  change  in,  after  the 
Civil  War,  204,  205. 

Thurman,  Allen  G.,  170. 

Tilden,  Samuel  J.,  prosecutes 
the  Tweed  ring,  80;  Demo 
cratic  candidate  for  President 
in  1876,  80,  81;  doubtful  re 
sult  of  the  election,  83,  84; 
unwilling  to  run  in  1880,  99. 

Timber  Culture  Laws,  155. 

Tobacco  Trust,  330,  331. 

Transportation,  a  fundamental 
factor,  162;  creates  new 
standards  of  living,  162,  163; 
relation  to  the  trusts,  164,  165; 
vital  to  frontier  life,  180. 

Treves,  Sir  Frederick,  praises 
work  in  Canal  Zone,  317. 

Trusts,  formation  of,  163,  164; 
logical  outcome  of,  164;  in 
fluence  of  transportation,  164, 


XIV 


INDEX 


165;  whiskey  and  sugar,  166; 
evils  of,  social  or  political, 
167;  difficulty  of  regulating, 
168;  investigation  ordered, 
169;  the  aim  of,  297;  Chicago 
conference  on,  298;  and 
strikes,  299,  300;  not  all 
"bad,"  302;  tariff  the  mother 
of,  303;  the  menace  of,  309; 
prosecution  of,  320,  321. 
Tweed,  William  M.,  50,  60. 

Underwood,  Oscar  W.,  329,  330, 
336. 

Union  League,  of  freedmen,  45. 

Union  Pacific  Railroad,  build 
ing  of,  22,  24,  25;  celebration 
of  completion,  25;  scandals 
of,  61;  extended  to  Denver, 
74;  a  national  project,  142, 
143;  extended  to  the  Gulf 
and  into  Oregon,  145;  recon 
structed  by  Harriman,  294. 

United  Mine  Workers  of  Amer 
ica,  300. 

United  States  Steel  Corpora 
tion,  297,  298. 

Utah,  polygamy  in,  154;  admit 
ted  to  the  Union,  240,  290. 

Vallandigham,  Clement  L.,  4. 
Venezuela,    boundary    dispute 

with  Great  Britain,  230-32; 

before  the  Hague  Court,  284. 
Villard,  Henry,  144,  145. 
Virginia,  readmitted  to  Union, 

47. 

Waite,  Gov.  Davis  H.,  222,  228. 
Wanamaker,  John,  172,  253. 
Washington,  becomes  a  State, 

152. 
Washington,    Booker   T.,    202, 

290. 


Watson,  Thomas  E.,  193,  238. 

Watterson,  Henry,  56. 

Weaver,  James  B.,  Greenback- 
Labor  candidate  for  the  Pres 
idency,  101;  leader  in  the 
People's  Party,  209;  Presi 
dential  candidate,  211,  216. 

Wells,  David  A.,  116. 

Western  Federation  of  Miners, 
in  Cripple  Creek  strike,  301. 

Weyler,  Gen.  Valeriano,  260, 
261,  263. 

Wheeler,  William  A.,  Vice-Presi 
dent  with  Hayes,  83. 

Whiskey  Ring,  the,  62,  81. 

Whiskey  and  Sugar  Trusts,  166. 

Wiley,  Dr.  Harvey,  314,  328. 

WTilson,  Henry,  Vice-President 
in  Grant's  second  term,  57. 

Wilson,  James,  314,  328. 

Wilson,  William  L.,  215;  leader 
in  tariff  revision,  139,  220, 
221;  on  free  silver,  229. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  career  of, 
336,  337;  nominated  by  Dem 
ocrats  for  Presidency,  337; 
elected,  338;  delivers  message 
to  Congress  in  person,  339;  a 
coercive  leader,  339;  attitude 
toward  Mexico,  340;  neutral 
ity  in  European  war,  341,  342. 

Windom,  William  L.,  102,  172. 

Woman  suffrage,  adopted  by 
several  States,  250,  334. 

Wood,  Gen.  Leonard,  270,  282. 

Woodford,  Gen.  Stewart  L., 
Minister  to  Spain,  262,  263. 

Wright,  Carroll  D.,  Commis 
sioner  of  Labor,  122. 

Wyoming,  made  a  Territory, 
149;  a  State,  152,  250. 

Yellow  fever,  suppressed  in 
Cuba,  282. 


14  DAY  USE 

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